


Ori and the Eternal Vessel

by Leo_The_Ice_Spirit_Guardian



Category: Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Brotherhood, Dark, Family, Fantasy, Fate & Destiny, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Long, Lorefriendly, Magic, Mystery, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 60,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24664669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leo_The_Ice_Spirit_Guardian/pseuds/Leo_The_Ice_Spirit_Guardian
Summary: Many years have passed since the gleaming hero became the life force of Niwen. As his trunk grew wider and majestic, his family grew older and Ku has become a proud, mighty owl.With the age of seniors, OuR lIght´s  tree was fully grown and gifted life to the entire forest. Finally it could release its fIrst leaf of light. And it flew right into the wildernesS.A new child was born. But that´s onLy the half of the truth. It was born in mIdnight with a full moon.English is not my natiVE language.I really hope to meet the level of the games atmosphere even a little bit.(The puzzle is easy to solve, if you listen to your heart)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 41





	1. Life began anew

* * *

A soothing sound rang through the forest as the wind blew through the gently moving treetops. The calmest night of the year, most every being slept under the soft iridescent light of the moon. All except for one, who was opening his eyes for the very first time.

_"When he woke up in the wild…"_

The comfortable living wood beneath him made for his very first experience in the world, made all the more magical with the soft illumination of blueish light his body radiated.

_"…Softly placed on a high branch…"_

The being begun to test his limbs, feeling his arms and legs, as well as the warm blood that made its way through them. He could sense every little muscle, even the tiny ones at the top of his thin tail. After verifying his new body, he got up slowly and cautiously. Carefully, he attuned his long ears to the environment, hearing every sound present. Hearing the wind brush through the leaves of the trees surrounding him, feeling the wind reach his fur and cool his face, move his ears with a gentle push, and reveal to him his favorite sound so far: a calming rustle in the quiet chirping of thousands of crickets covering almost every corner of the forest.

_"…He beheld the forest with the eyes of a child…"_

As he looked to his side, towards the origin of the branch he sat upon, a bluish, shiny flower, larger than his entire body jumped into his sight and curiosity quickly got the better of him. The flower moved in a very strange, almost otherworldly way, like moving slime. The danger the flower posed was overwhelming, but he dared to touch one of its petals softly. Almost immediately, he flinched as the flower emitted a clear tone and briefly flashed brighter. Startled at first, his fears quickly subsided as his curiosity only became greater, and he touched the flower again, more forcefully this time. Another tone chimed out of the flower, coupled with a stronger flash. His already large eyes grew even larger, and he began to play with the flower. He giggled, the flower felt strange, particularly in how his paws sprang off the plant every time they made contact. After messing about with his newfound toy, he saw a silver light shining through the tree’s leaves above him, out of reach. Curious about another new thing, he wondered if he could jump on the flower and get a boost in order to reach the light. The flower did repel his paws, after all. It was worth a try. He bent his knees and started to jump. The speed as he zoomed in the air took his breath for a second, and his belly tingled inside. It threw him higher than he guessed, and he very quickly became too high for his own liking. He saw a spot to land on, but he hadn’t yet learned to land with his tiny hooves from this height. A muffled thud and a quick, painful whimper rang out as he fell down onto the highest branch of the tree. When he got up and saw what awaited him there, however, he quickly forgot his pain, thrilled by the view. The full moon above glowed bright and illuminated every leaf.

_"…He did not know who or where he was…"_

He saw a group of fireflies floating above a wide meadow.

_"…Who was his father…"_

He observed the gigantic landscape before him in awe, its beauty reflecting off his eyes.

_"…But he had the goal…"_

Despite this beauty, the being showed sorrow. Something was missing.

_"…To search for his mother…"_

The little spirit called out into the unknown with a soft, childish voice. Three times he took a full breath and let out a lonely cry, hoping that someone, anyone, would hear it and respond. Sadly, nobody answered his call. His ears drooped, and he eventually gave up. He was alone. However, right as he was close to tears and wanted to sink down into a sob, the majestic, mighty top of the largest tree, growing right in the center of the picturesque landscape caught his attention. It shone with a warm, orange tone, the source of which was a spherical light ball that crowned the center of the tree. He felt this to be his intended destination, and his long ears pricked up again. However, the color somehow looked delicious. His stomach growled, he himself only just realizing his hunger. There just had to be something to eat nearby. Something that had the exact same color of this life-giving light. He could already smell his quarry. He stuck out his fine, little nose and followed that delectable, juicy fragrance right to the source. It lead him to the branch that now sat right in front of him, where wonderful orange fruits grew. His mouth began to water as he caught sight of them. The little spirit picked a few of them, and used his arms as a basket to carry them to somewhere more comfortable. There, he sat down to enjoy them. He curiously observed the first one from every angle. Satisfied in its appearance, he then took a bite. It was so soft that his tooth went right through it with hardly any resistance. His little tongue almost tingled, it was so juicy. The fruit was utterly satisfying. The little spirit wondered why the taste was so familiar to him, even though he had never eaten or even seen them before. The strongest effect the fruit had, however, was a picture that appeared in his mind as he finished them. A picture of the kindest face he had ever seen. A white colored face, smiling like the moon. Her big, chubby body was covered with a long, dark-blueish fur. Of course, he did not know why the picture showed up in his mind, nor did he know who the person was. Even as such, her appearance warmed his heart.

_"…But soon my word would reach his soul…"_

After enjoying his food, he stood up and looked around. A moth flew through the darkness of night, and was interested in his blueish light. It landed directly on his nose, and rested there. The little spirit froze, interested in the moth resting its wings on his nose. The tiny legs of the insect began to tickle his nose, however, and he sneezed. When the surface where the moth sat was not safe anymore, the moth flew away. As his eyes followed its path curiously, he spotted a big lake a few meters away from the tree he had claimed as his destination. When he saw the surface, glittering in the bright moonlight, he couldn’t help becoming a little thirsty. Resolving to get there through the treetops, he continued for a while until he found himself carefully hanging on to a thin branch that he could barely grab. As he hung there, he realized that his short-term plan did not include an idea on how to continue. There was no floor beneath him, instead it looked like hundreds of meters going down. His heart began to beat heavily. The only chance he had to continue was to swing to the branch to branch until he was able to reach the ground and continue to the lake through more traditional methods. The fear of falling was overwhelming, but he eventually gathered all his courage and began to swing back and forth. When he was sure that he had built up enough momentum, he let go of the branch he was on and flew through the air. There, he grabbed the next one, but his paws were shivering too much from fear to hold on, and he slipped off. His heart skipped a beat out of fright, and he made several desperate attempts to grab anything, eventually grabbing another thin limb. However, when he shifted his weight to the branch, it broke and he fell even further. His breath stopped. He narrowed his eyes in effort as he desperately clawed the massive tree trunk next to him in an attempt to arrest his fall. It wasn’t a complete success, and he landed slightly hard, but it was far better than the alternative of landing heavily on his butt. The pain wasn’t bad, but before he could pick himself up and continue on his way, the thin limb from earlier fell onto his head with a crack. While it hurt, he was able to rub away the pain and open his eyes again. He sighed, relieved that nothing worse had happened. The little spirit got up, patted his fur back down, and made his way to the lake.

As he approached the lake and saw the surface up close, he instinctively formed his paws into a tiny bucket and drank. The fresh water was pleasantly cold in his mouth, and it quenched his thirst as he gulped down five or ten gallons. His light illuminated the water as he drank, and his curiosity from earlier came back, wondering if he could enter its surface. Not one to resist his curiosity, he dove in. The water felt cool on his body, and he enjoyed its beauty. The most fascinating part was how he filled the lake and its residents with his bluish light. A couple fishes with shiny scales were lured in his direction. Some were bigger than him, however, they did not seem dangerous. This landscape differentiated completely from the forest. The surface was like a portal into another world, a very beautiful one. Unfortunately, he had not yet learned that water was not breathable. The water burned in his lungs, and he quickly searched for a way out. He went to the surface as fast as he could, and crawled back to land. Upon reaching the land, a violent coughing attack overtook him as he spit the water out that he had just accidentally breathed in. As the last drip of the unwelcoming burning liquid left him, he gasped for air, supporting himself with his arms. After that unpleasant experience, he looked back to the lake behind him. He was curious as to what else he could find in the depths. If he held his breath, the water couldn’t hurt him. The little spirit took another try at exploring the underwater world and jumped into the water. However, his body screamed for air just as he entered its surface, and he again was forced out of the water. He had no chance to explore the world that was so different.

Eventually, he remembered where he actually wanted to go before being distracted: that giant, glowing tree in the center of the forest. He did not know why, but it somehow attracted him like it had a magical aura. Motivated, he took confident steps toward his destination. Where was it? Which direction? Normally, these questions would be serious problems to those who were trying to get somewhere, but the little spirit just followed his heart, his feelings telling him he was going to arrive. On his way, the forest was so quiet that he could almost hear his own breath as he strolled through the ethereal landscape. The trees looked like they grew all the way to the clouds. He took his time and walked extra slowly, just so that he could enjoy every impression that the forest had to offer. Glowing plants hung like little light bulbs all along the branches. Some of the plants were blue, some were yellow-colored and softly shook in the wind. Green-flashing grass grew in almost every direction, and was even able to develop large tufts on the underside of cliffs and overhangs. The little spirit was truly amazed by these beautiful, majestic lifeforms, and observed them with his big eyes.

While with all that beauty that disclosed solely to him, good moments don’t last forever. The little spirit heard a loud, proud shriek in the air. Someone, or something, had heard his call from before and was rapidly approaching with its response. The sky quaked when a strong creature hissed through the night with its ground-shaking wing beats. As he looked up into the air, his heart stopped as he saw that creature’s appearance: a giant, jet-black owl, larger than several of the trees surrounding him, and equipped with razor sharp talons on the ends of its feet. His weak body involuntarily began to shiver, and that was when he knew that he needed to run. The big creature came closer, and he reacted by beginning to sprint as fast as he could in the other direction, driven only by pure adrenaline. The giant owl followed his blueish light with curiosity of its own and a screech of excitement. It was hopeless to try and escape from her, as his light revealed him every time he almost managed to lose her. Seeing that running was pointless, he tried a different tact, and burrowed into the dirt beneath him, with a skill level belying his age. He was very lucky that the dirt was soft enough to dig through so quickly. Burrowed himself beneath the sand, he tried to hold his breath and calm down in order to hide. His heart felt like it was beating a hundred times every second. It was nearly too difficult to stop breathing when his body was in survival mode. The owl landed with a loud thud right next to him, but she didn´t see his light anymore. Eventually, she gave up on her search and vanished to the sky with a powerful wing beat. After the danger passed, he crawled out of his pit, gasping for air noisily. His breathing was as deep as it could be. Finally, his body calmed down again, and he patted the sand out of his fur. He shook his head a bit to clear his mind. However, even if it was dangerous, the adventure with the owl had rushed him all the way to his target destination.

A soft, orange light was glowing out of a couple of holes from within the massive trunk, and thousands of warm-colored, flashing growths hung from its top. It was truly a wonderful scene.

As he moved closer to the tree, he felt a strange feeling in his belly. It was like a strong memory from something he actually never lived through in this short time he was alive, a sense of déjà-vu. He felt as if life was flowing out of his body with his cells dissolving in the air. It wasn´t painful, and it was only in his mind. He simply observed this thought and accepted it, even if it was anything but a usual memory.

_"Brave child, you managed to find me, completely on your own. Come closer. I need to talk with you."_

Without even a thought about the fact that a tree was talking to him, he sat down in front of it in some sort of praying position. His paws merged together in front of his chest, and he closed his eyes.

_"Listen my child. As I carefully stored his soul until my first leaf of light was ready to fall, I blessed you, my first own son, with the name of the hero that once went forth and saved this land, having gifted me his own life in the end. He was the light that illuminated the darkness, the happiness that healed depression, and the hope when everything seemed to be lost."_

_"His name was Ori."_

_Ori…_ This name echoed like a sound in the deepest recesses of his mind. However, he embraced it gratefully and branded the beautiful word deep in his head.

" _As it once was my name as his sacred place of rest, I relay it now to you, my child."_

_"You will have brothers and sisters, a family of light to protect the forest as he once did. Now go. Live through the childhood that he was never able to take delight in. Give his soul the rest it deserves."_

Eventually, the tree finished his speech to his first son, and the little spirit bowed in pure reverence to him. Unsure of what to do now, the spirit began to contemplate what to do next. His strongest desire now was to find that person who somehow showed up in his mind, but he didn’t have the foggiest idea of how he might do that. It was now that he had no further goals that his skin suddenly began to itch. Some grains of sand were still stuck in his glowing fur. He shook his head, but the itch was too strong for him to put it off. There had to be something around here to wash it off. Looking around, he eventually found a big waterfall, its water splashing upon a rock and from there flowing into a broad river. Slowly, he drew closer and reached out for the water. Immediately, he pulled back his paw when the veins in that extremity closed almost instantly. He psyched himself up and took another try, but suddenly it didn´t feel painful anymore. Almost pleasant, even. He climbed up to the rock and closed his eyes as he enjoyed the fresh shower washing his fur. The cold somehow calmed his mind. He reflexively sat down and began to meditate beneath the icy water. He felt like his tree father now, simply observing what was happening. He didn´t feel cold, he merely felt the strong force of nature hugging him tight. It really fascinated him.

His focus was so sharp right now that he could sense a lovable presence nearby, observing him. It felt…familiar. He opened his eyes and couldn´t trust them right away. A dark-blueish creature with a white-colored face smiled at him like the moon, and warmed his heart.

"Hey little one," She said with a kind voice. "Come out of the water. You’ll catch a cold, my child." She came closer to him and stretched out her arms. He was only one layer above her. "You can trust me. I will catch you." He hesitated at first, but eventually he jumped right into her tender arms. It was a sensation he needed right now. The lovely hug from a mother. "My dear, you must be so cold. Did you want to wash yourself?" He merely nodded slightly. "But the water was so icy. Didn´t you freeze?" She used her big hands like a towel and rubbed all over his glowing fur. He looked like a smaller version of the stars in the sky. She gently picked him up and laid him into her arms like a cradle. "You remind me of someone." He did not know how to answer, so he softly nudged her nose. "Hey that tingles!" She laughed. "You are such a funny little thing. Do you have a name?"

"…Ori…" Was the first word that came out of his little mouth.

* * *


	2. Home and Family

* * *

“What a beautiful name. Did the Spirit Tree give it to you?” Ori listened carefully to the calming, kind voice of the being that was talking to him. He felt the power of pure love wrapped tight in every sentence, and the reverence with which the name was treated. After all, it only made sense that the name of the mightiest, kindest spirit guardian to ever live would have an awe-inspiring name. Ori wasn’t sure exactly what past Ori did, but now his name and soul were his own, and he was appreciative of them. Realizing that he still needed to respond to the kind being talking to him, he gave her a slight nod. As she wasn’t expecting such a reaction, her face began to reveal her confusion. Ori…was actually the name of the spirit tree, and it seemed odd that he would name his very first child after himself. She turned to the massive trunk in the middle of the forest, which was, as ever, resting and simply observing the scene like the magical guardian he was. She looked up to the top of the tree where Seir had her place, always glowing in a warm, orange tone. Why would the Spirit Tree pass his name onto his first son? She couldn’t find an answer, and the small spirit in her arms began to shift, drawing her back to the present. Resolving to find out later, she offered, “Let´s go back to the village. There’s some warm soup there I’m sure you’d like.” The glowing face in her arms laughed happily in response. Ori didn´t know what the word ‘soup’ meant, but he felt that whatever it was, it had to be delicious. Ready to get going, he began to crawl out of her warm hug, surprising her. “Can you walk by yourself?” she asked. Once more, Ori nodded slightly, and she gently put him down. After he took a few steps like he’d been walking for years, she was satisfied with his abilities, though she did think for a moment on the surprising speed of spirit development, as after all, he was only born a few minutes ago. With a confused look on her face and several questions in her head, along with an excited prancing from Ori, they both headed to the village she was talking about.

As the duo continued along the path back to the village, Ori began to feel very strange. Something was wrong with the part of the forest they currently walked through. It was misty, cold, frightening, sun-scarred, and just really not a place where he wanted to be right now. The worst part, however, was the complete absence of any evidence of life. He couldn’t even hear a single cricket chirping away, the only sound being the soft brush of wind through the leaves. Ori was really glad that he didn’t have to pass through this quiet hell alone, as even with the best partner he could ask for, his mind and body were veering on the edge of madness. Thankfully, however, the warm aura of the motherly creature calmed him back down to a more rational state again. Even as such, he was greatly spooked when her voice pierced the oppressive silence by saying, “We call this part of Niwen ‘The Silent Forest.’ You don’t need to be afraid, it isn’t dangerous anymore. Or, well, not as quite as dangerous as it was before at least.”

Despite the motherly being’s assurances that the evil place they found themselves in was “not quite as dangerous as it was before,” the little spirit pulled on her fur and hid behind her. The darkness and the silence made his belly feel strange, almost queasy even, and a little shiver made its way down his spine, followed by several more that got progressively more intense. “The village isn’t that far now,” she said. “We’re almost there.” Even as she said this, she felt the shivering little body on her back and knew whatever she could say wouldn’t be enough to calm that thing down. “Oh no. Are you really that scared, little one?” Looking over her shoulder, she saw the adorable and heart-wrenching sight of an absolutely terrified baby spirit. Ori hated to admit his fear, but it wasn’t like he had a choice or the willpower to do anything but nod. Luckily for him, she already knew exactly what to do. She gently picked up the fearful being and laid it into her strong, comfortable arms. “Don´t worry,” she assured, “I will carry you.” Feeling the safe embrace of her arms, and the ridiculous strength that such a heavy-set being could output, Ori relaxed and felt great wave of safety overtake him.

Suddenly, something disturbed the oppressive, eternal silence. A nearby bush began to shake violently, producing a loud rustle. No longer safe, the spirit felt himself tense up, and the safest place he could find in the short panic was behind the wall of black fur. From there, he grabbed her shoulders from behind as to not tumble down and dared a look from behind her head. More annoyed than anything, the somewhat braver being called out, “Is someone there?” She had hardly finished turning towards the bush when a little black shadow shot out of the bush, right into her chest. Ori, terrified more than ever now, screamed in fear and rapidly began to make plans for escape, but the shadow began to talk rapidly in a slightly fearful tone itself: “Hey, hey, hey, I´m sorry, I´m sorry. I really did not mean to scare him” Realizing who it was who had just scared them both, the mother became a little angry, her face emanating a deep disapproval in the cheeky little moki sneaking around at night. The moki moved to apologize, but he saw the face peering over her shoulder and forgot his intentions, fascinated by what he saw. “Is that…a spirit guardian?!” he asked, full of childish delight. The mother sighed, a bit annoyed, but grudgingly dropped the original conversation, her face moving back into a smile. It was important that Ori met others around his age, and despite the moki’s rude entrance, she offered him the opportunity anyway. “Do you want to say hello, little one?” Despite his fear, Ori was curious enough to climb down to stand in front of the moki, observing it just as much as it did him. Oddly enough, it was now that he had another onset of déjà vu, as if he had seen this creature somewhere before. Meanwhile, the moki was examining Ori with glee, describing his thoughts as he went. “Wow! That is amazing! Just show yourself. Don´t be shy.” He walked around the confused spirit and observed him from every angle, barely restraining himself from poking or prodding. Ori was particularly embarrassed when the moki looked at him from behind, causing him to draw in his tail. “You look exactly like him, just…smaller!” By now, the moki had begun to calm down and be more polite, but his enthusiasm soared to new heights when the adult explained, “Not only does he look like him, he also shares the exact same name.” The eyes of the moki widened. “Really? That´s amazing! Are you Ori? The one we all talk about? Has the life as a tree become boring? Well, I would have become veeery bored, if I was a tree,” he laughed. The little spirit responded by shrugging his shoulders humbly. “Oh, you can´t talk yet, can you? You were just born hours ago, right?” Again, Ori nodded.

Seeing an opportunity to change the topic, the larger creature asked, “What were you doing here in the middle of the night little moki? Your parents must be concerned.” He groomed his ears and answered, “I know, I know, I got lost in the Silent Forest and all that. I just wanted to find a perfect stone to use as a tool, just like the old Gorlek does! I was even starting to get a little worried maybe, up until I saw a bluish light and knew it had to be the way out.” Mollified, she put on that moon-like smile again. “Let´s go home together. I´m sure you’ll find that stone tomorrow. Maybe you might just be able to convince Ori here to help you find it!” She still hadn’t gotten over how she felt about “Ori’s” name, if new Ori actually was old Ori’s son. Oblivious to her internal struggle, the moki jumped into the air in excitement. “Oh yes! You hear that Ori? We will play together tomorrow! I’ll find you, just you wait!” He hugged Ori tight in pure joy. The little spirit was overwhelmed at first, but eventually he hugged the moki back with a soft smile on his face.

After a short while, only a few meters separated the odd trio from their destination. A high, stony wall was blocking their path forward. Fortunately, there was a stairway, leading all the way up to where the moonlight shone through.

Never the silent type, the moki child presented the situation to the others cheerfully. “We´re here, the Gorlek village! See the beautiful glowing plants illuminating the roofs? This is our home.” The moki giggled. “Isn´t it pretty Ori?” The little spirit looked around in awe. It indeed was really nice to look at, with wood and leaf houses big and small finding their place almost everywhere, from the flat meadow, to hanging from strong branches and even the unconventional ones dangling down off of some of the thicker limbs. The houses were illuminated by the silver moonlight, as well as by the same pretty flowers he just recently found in the other part of the forest where he had started. In the middle of the village, a mighty tree trunk extended into the sky, touching the clouds above. It was here that the moki split from them, explaining, “Well, I have to go now. My parents are probably concerned about me already, and I don´t want them to get mad at me.” The motherly being, somewhat relieved to have the moki going, turned to him and said, “Get home safely, child.” “Don´t worry, I will. Also, I almost forgot, my name is Raiki. See you tomorrow my friend!” After the little moki ran back to his home, the little spirit mumbled his name. “Raiki…” He had just called him a friend. Ori didn’t know what that meant, but he definitely liked the word, and it was obvious that the moki liked him a lot. It was nice that everyone was so kind to him.

They walked past many little houses, placed almost randomly in every corner. Every building was unique in its own way, but one building in particular stood as a clear outlier from the rest, extending far higher than the others. “This is our house,” the motherly being said. A warm, yellowish light flooded out from the doorway. Someone was already awaiting them there.

“Naru, you’re back! I was beginning to get a little concerned about you.” “Oh you,” Naru sighed, “I heard a call come from outside that sounded so helpless and… familiar, I couldn’t help but go out and check what it was. It almost felt like that special moment years ago, when that bluish glowing leaf flew past me.” While they continued with the conversation, the shy little spirit was considering his opinion of his mother figure’s roommate, a bit afraid of his appearance at first. He was a round creature with dark-grey fur and very long arms and legs that gave him the appearance of a large spider. He didn’t seem dangerous, however, so eventually Ori showed his face. The creature had already seen the bluish light coming from behind Naru´s back, but pretended to be surprised anyway, exclaiming, “It´s a spirit guardian! I haven´t seen one of them in ages! And a what a pretty one.” From here, Ori could already smell the fragrant, delicious aroma of the soup inside, and his glowing ears pricked up high in excitement as he stuck out his little nose to take a sniff. “Of course, you want some soup! Wait just a second, I´ll get you a bowl,” said the grey creature. “Make yourself comfortable, little one.” Naru pointed towards a place he could sit down at. Ori took a seat on the soft straw floor, crossing his legs as he did so. “And here you are. Be careful, it´s quite hot.” The round creature´s arms were so long that he could easily hand over the meal from almost a quarter of the way across the room. The little spirit stretched out his paws excitedly to the bowl and grabbed it quickly.

He took a little sip. The soup had a creamy consistence that was quite enjoyable. Its taste was similar to its aroma, that is to say that it was delectable. He could sense that it was made with pure love. His eyes became bigger in pleasure, and he could no longer take the bowl off his lips, instead determined to eat it all. However, the warning from earlier was accurate, and his tongue screamed in pain from the heat and tears began to roll down his cheeks in reaction. “Careful little one!” Naru said, “He warned you that it was hot.” Her kind face showed her concern. “Are you alright?” He wiped his tears away with his right arm and nodded, causing her to let out a sigh of relief. “Naru?” The round creature with very long legs turned to her. “Is this little guy his first child?” His voice sounded a bit rough. He was getting old. Naru thought for a moment, and responded, “I think so. I found him near our first son, the Spirit Tree. He was enjoying an icy shower beneath the waterfall coming directly from Baur´s Reach. I had to look twice, I couldn’t quite trust my eyes the first time.” He laughed slightly. “Well, I know how cold that water is. He’s quite tough if he spent any length of time in there.” The little spirit felt comfortable in the company of these friendly people, it made him feel at home. “Has he told you his name yet?” Ori, sensing an opportunity, looked up from the empty bowl he had just finished licking out completely, and answered by himself: “Ori.” The round creature turned to the little spirit. “Ori? That was his name before.” He was visibly confused. Naru just gave a slight shrug with her shoulders. “I don´t know. The Spirit Tree gave him that name. I’m also confused, but maybe he just wanted to relay it to his first son, like a tradition. That was the only explanation I could think of.” The spider-like being turned back towards Naru. “That makes sense to me. After all, it is the name of a hero. I guess he must be proud of it.”

The little spirit became increasingly restless after a few minutes and began to nervously move his small legs back and forth. “Looks like someone has to answer nature’s call.” The round creature smiled. “Little one, if you need to go, I can go with you, only if you want. I know that the night can be creepy sometimes,” she offered with a kind voice. He nodded, a bit ashamed. “Okay, I´ll go outside with him briefly. Come on, little one.” He slowly got up to follow her. The round creature excused himself, saying, “I´ll be waiting for you.” He saw them both stroll out into the night, and began to reminisce about the past. “Simply adorable, how he slurped that soup in pure enjoyment. It felt like he had just come back after ages, he really does remind me of him.”

The soft breeze cooled their faces, like the night was smiling down on them. It seemed that they were the only ones out that late. “Do you need help, little one?” Naru asked. After all, he was a newborn. The little spirit shook his head, however, and vanished into the tall grass quickly, with his glowing fur thankfully hiding his blushing cheeks.

After a minute or two, she heard the soft, tiny steps of his hooves brushing through the tall grass. His glowing face looked out of the green fiber.

“Do you feel better now?” she asked. He nodded, but at that moment, he sensed something dangerous and pulled on her fur. Smiling, she asked, “What´s the matter, my child?” He pointed with a finger at the sky. After she looked up to the dark clouds, it became clear what was frightening him so badly. The giant owl from before had seen his bluish light from a far distance and was excited to finally see the first spirit guardian. As softly as she could, she landed right in front of her adoptive mother and her new brother. “Ku!” Naru´s face showed her euphoria as she saw that her once little daughter had finally decided to pay a visit to the village that once was her home. The little spirit shivered, daring a quick look from behind Naru’s back. “You shouldn’t scare our new family member like that,” she said with a smile and a soft voice. The owl tried to stay as calm as she could, and very carefully, Ori moved closer to her. “Don´t be afraid, little one. This is Ku, and she belongs to our family.” Slowly, Ku moved her head down towards him. He stretched out his little arm and opened his paw, pressing it softly on her face. Somehow, he felt a strong bond to her as he inspected her giant body. The little spirit laid down his head on her forehead and closed his eyes. To Ku, it felt like a feather softly touching her, and she repaid the touch by doing the same thing very softly to Ori.

Naru was visibly touched by the scene. Even though Ku was a proud giant owl now, she still had her soft heart that she had from before as a child. “Aw, he really likes you, Ku.” Ku was a bit overwhelmed by the strong love coming from her new sibling, it was like he had the same soul as Ori. “Maybe”—she thought—“it was Ori?” She didn´t know. However, she definitely knew that she already kept the cute, little spirit close to her heart. She looked forward to the day where he would be old enough to climb onto her back and fly with her over the gigantic landscape.

Ori, on the other hand, almost fell asleep on the soft feathers of her face. His brain had to process through so many impressions and thoughts at once that he became very tired. Naru picked the sleeping child up as if he was as light as a feather and gave a soft wink to the owl. “Goodnight, Ku,” she said, as she faced away to return home again.

Very carefully, she lay the snoozing spirit on top of a soft bed made of straw and hay. The mattress lay on a neatly cut branch so that the bed could have a higher layer. It was built by Gumo, the old round creature with the friendly soul. He had known that they would need to care for a new child someday. “Sleep tight, sweetheart,” she said, and softly kissed the spirit´s forehead.

Eventually, Naru and Gumo also laid down to sleep. Gumo tried for a while, but he had a thought in mind that kept him awake. “Something’s strange about that little guy. don´t you think?” Naru turned to the round creature lying on his hammock. “What do you mean, Gumo?” He sighed, immersed in memories. “He glows with our son´s light. He has the same voice, the same appearance, the same name, he’s even acting like him…” Naru, half-asleep, responded, “I don´t understand. Who’s on your mind, Gumo?” He took a couple of seconds to think about what he wanted to say. “Well, I want to say it feels as if he has been reborn.” Naru frowned. “Don´t be silly. Our first son was reborn as the Spirit Tree. It was his destiny. This new spirit is his son.” Gumo sighed. “I know that. But why did he name him Ori? He must have another reason other than just being a tradition. I mean, why should a father name his child after himself?” That question awoke Naru’s mind, and she began to think. “Well, we can´t talk with the Spirit Tree, only spirits can do that. Maybe ‘Ori’ can tell us the truth someday. Now try to sleep, the night is almost over.”

The little spirit´s ears twitched slightly while he was sleeping. It was as if he could hear every single word.


	3. The Graceful Archer

* * *

_“He woke up as the first,”_

_“Because he had a strong thirst”_

_“To see his world illuminated.”_

_“So he beheld the warm light of the sun…”_

_“His first day on Niwen has begun.”_

The wind gently moved every leaf. Treetops softly glowed with an orange tone as the first rays of sunlight hit their surface. Only a few minutes ago, something else was the only light source softly illuminating the grass. The little spirit had woken up just recently to watch the sky get brighter. Soon, the beautiful glowing sphere that was the sun showed itself and slowly floated up over the horizon and lit the clouds. Its light dazzled his eyes, forcing him to cover them with his arm. Time to get up and explore his new home, the great village!

Except for the birds that were already filling the atmosphere with their soft choir, Ori was the only one who woke up this early. Apart from the gentle sounds of mother nature, there was silence in the village. He slowly walked past the still little houses, softly touching their wooden supports as he passed by. Eventually, he arrived at some kind of monument made of stone, decorated with twinkling gemstones that shone in the morning sun. Two faces were engraved in the polished stone with evident skill and care, the big orange beak of a bird, and the monkey-like old face of a ‘weapon master,’ both of which seemed strangely familiar to Ori. Near the base of the monument, a short inscription read, “May these kind souls live forever. They helped the gleaming hero to save our land.” He laid his paw on the stone. Somehow, he felt the memories flowing out of it and finding their way into his mind, causing his soul to glow from within.

As Ori turned to walk away from the monument, a loud, crisp sound hit his ears: the sound of something hard knocking against wood. It must have been a bird with a sharp beak, building it´s nest in a trunk somewhere. It sounded like “Tokk.” Maybe that was also the name of the bird engraved on the stone tablet. Ori wasn’t sure why, but it felt right. He didn’t think about it too hard, because it was probably impossible to find an answer as to why that was. From there, he climbed on the roof of one of the little houses and observed the center of the village. The only movement thereafter was a few birds and insects flying around. In particular, a butterfly with lemon-colored wings that shone in the sunlight flew right towards him. Delighted, Ori stretched out one of his paws for the butterfly to land upon. It landed on his tiny finger to rest its wings, allowing him to feel the weight of the insect balanced on its tiny legs.

Eventually, with his heavy tool on his shoulders, the old Gorlek was the second outside. On a normal day, he would continue the never ending work of fulfilling the order of one of the many residents of his masterpiece, the great village. The clients were still mainly mokis, that had never changed. The most common orders included making sure that the village was safe for children by removing the native toxic thorn tendrils, building swings for the little ones, majestic climbing frames for the older kids, restaurants for the village’s legendary soup, and finally benches for the older generations. He was the chief foreman and mayor of his village for about forty years now, ever since the gleaming hero had helped him fulfill his work.

Slowly, the whole village started to come alive. At first, just one door opened, but it was quickly followed by a second, and soon doors all throughout the village were swinging on their hinges. From one door, Ori noticed the little moki Raiki come out, so he jumped down to meet him. When Raiki saw the little spirit, a happy smile showed on his face instantly. “Good morning Ori! How long have you been up today? Did you really get up with the birds?” The spirit smiled and nodded. “I guess you don´t need much sleep for a newborn. That’s…incredible!” Raiki laughed, excited to spend time with the cute spirit. He was just about to explain his plan for today when a very quiet growling came from his friend. Diagnosing the problem, he laid his ear on Ori´s belly and smirked. The little spirit was a bit confused as to why anyone would do such a thing, but Raiki, without losing his smirk, remarked, “There is nothing inside you yet, right? Don´t worry, you can have breakfast with us. Only if you want to, of course.” Ori glanced back toward his own house. As long as he didn’t leave the village, Naru probably wouldn’t be concerned. Satisfied that he would be okay, he nodded and they both vanished into the moki family’s little house.

Shortly after Naru woke up, she noticed that someone was missing. “Ori?” This time, saying his name wasn´t as strange as before, and she began to accept the name as it was. “Where are you, my child?” Beginning to get concerned, she began to look around, but couldn’t find him anywhere in the house. “Gumo! Our child is gone!” she called, thinking to get Gumo on the hunt sooner rather than later. The round creature shifted in his hammock and tiredly said: “Don´t worry too much about him. I think he can handle some things by himself. Besides, I don´t think he even left the village, he won´t be in any danger.” Disappointed in two creatures now, Naru continued to push, “But Gumo! He’s still a baby! He was only born last night!” she said, appalled that anyone could take missing children so casually. Gumo sighed, climbing out of his hammock and following up with a stretch. Resigning himself to a quick job, he responded, “Fine. If you really are that concerned about our boy, I will look after him. I´m sure he’s just with his new moki friend. Now please, calm down.” Naru took a deep breath. “Very well. I will gather some fruits for us now.”

Gumo did not need to look further than a few meters, because he could already hear the excited voice of a hyperactive moki child. He was very sure that anyone that excited was talking with Ori. Sure enough, when he took a closer look at the small meadow, he could see the excited gestures of the moki sitting across from the little spirit. “Oh, the youth in all its glory. I knew he didn´t leave the village.” Not wanting to interrupt their conversation, he stood close enough to hear the moki´s words and smiled.

“I’ve never had a spirit guardian as a playmate before. I thought they were doomed to remain a legend when the last of them sacrificed himself to become the new spirit tree, but now you´re here. You even have the exact same name. It’s almost like I’m playing with the gleaming hero himself.” Ori giggled, noticing just how much Raiki liked him. Continuing, Raiki said, “I need to tell you a story!” The little spirit came closer and began to listen carefully. “My father once held the title ‘Mokk the brave.’ He told me about a very useful tool that the gleaming hero once gave to him as a sign of encouragement. It was a perfect stone to build structures with, like the old Gorlek does. Unfortunately, when he visited his former home, back in the Silent Forest, he lost it. He told me that, if I was brave enough to find it, I would be allowed to help him with his work. Personally, I think it´s funny to watch him try to build anything.” He made a pause to take a deep breath and build suspense. The eyes of the little spirit widened in curiosity. “Now, I need your help, Ori. You glow so bright that you could be my personal light. It´s very dark in the Silent Forest, so dark that you can even forget the time in there like I did last night. Do you want to accompany me and see if we can find that stone?” Ori didn´t know what he was getting involved with, but it sounded exciting, so he nodded. “Awesome! Let´s hope we don’t get swallowed by the forest.” With that, they set off on their adventure.

They were far from home by now. Entering the complete silent part of the forest again, Ori was seized by the fear of the unknown due to his status as the only significant light source. Although it was in the middle of the day, it was dark as midnight here. Raiki was too excited to be scared, though. He was very sure that they would find that perfect stone soon. The little spirit, however, remained rational and did not like the foreboding atmosphere. It felt like he had broken a rule his mother had never gave him. She probably wouldn’t allow him to pass through this area at all, and she would have her reasons, one of which being the danger he felt coming from all around him. Unfortunately for Ori, he was still incapable of telling Raiki that he wanted to leave this place, and so only one word came from his lips, “Wait…” Undeterred, the sassy moki pulled his arm and gave Ori an indignant stare. “’Wait?’ Are you serious? We are so close, we can´t just leave now!” complained Raiki. “But…” Ori said with a scared voice. Exasperated, the moki explained, “Don´t be afraid. I’ve been here hundreds of times and nothing’s ever attacked me. Believe me, it´s not dangerous here.” The little spirit wasn´t sure of that at all. He had a strange feeling that something could shoot out of the darkness and violently pull him into the bushes, where he’d never be found again. He listened very closely, determined to hear any danger break the silence before it could make an attack. The young moki, however, wasn´t afraid at all, still looking around in hopes of finding that perfect stone. Musing to himself, “Hmm…It must be here somewhere…” he carefully widened his eyes in order to see every corner of the area. “I wonder, maybe I could smell that stone?” Ori, beginning to panic, wanted to end this foolish venture very quickly so that they could finally go home. Thinking he might be able to do a better job than the hopeless moki, he jumped into a bush right next to him. His light going out, Raiki was initially confused. “Ori? Where did you go?” Turning around, the moki and saw no trace of the spirit. He began to get a little concerned, as he was older than him and was responsible if he got hurt. Now, the spirit was nowhere to be seen. He had lost him.

Certain he couldn’t have gone very far, Raiki called out, “Please tell me before you go vanishing like tha—” Stunned, he couldn´t trust his eyes. The little spirit stood right in front of him, holding nothing less than a very special tooth-shaped stone in his paws. Indeed, it was actually the stone Raiki was searching for. Incredulous, it was Raiki’s turn to struggle with words. “Ori—you—you´re amazing! You’ll have to show me how you did that later. Now let´s get out of here, I know you´re scared.”

At last, they were on their way back home, away from this accursed place. They had only made a few steps towards the exit, however, when suddenly Ori froze and stuck his arm in front of Raiki. The little spirit stood frozen in terror and from Raiki’s perspective, it looked like he was just about to run for his life. “What…what´s wrong?” asked Raiki, who was beginning to become scared as well out of mutual fear. Something was definitely wrong. “Wait—” Ori said again with his high-pitched voice, adrenaline driving it even higher. “Do you hear something?” The young moki poised himself to listen carefully to every sound, but all he could hear was silence. Wait! Together, their breathing halted as suddenly an aggressive rustle come from the bushes right next to them, rapidly increasing in volume. Time seemed to slow as their hearts throbbed five times every second. Unsure of what to do, Ori grabbed a stick, grasping it as tightly as he could in his paws. Both children, the reality of their mortality making itself evident to them, began to shiver in fear as their bodies refused to move any further.

Pushing aside the bushes, several slimy, snail-like creatures with a color that screamed evil revealed themselves. “These—these must be ‘the last of them’ that my papa warned me about—they survived in this terrible darkness. Ori, maybe they sensed your light. One thing’s certain, we should never have come here—what shall we do?” The creature’s appearance not only turned his stomach, but also awoke Ori´s very mind. Suddenly, he could hear a new word in his head, one he’d never heard before: “The decay…” Out of time to dwell upon it further, the eyes of the little spirit widened to a size they’d never reached before. When they could grow no more, he grabbed Raiki’s paw and began to run for his life, dragging the moki behind him. The creatures may have been slow, but a whole group had surrounded them by using the bushes as cover before they had been noticed. In position now, all of them jumped down simultaneously, surrounding them. Out of options, Raiki yelled, “We´re trapped!” The slimy creatures began to close the distance, coming at them like a wall of fire. If that wasn´t enough, even bigger kinds of insects landed outside the circle with a thud so loud that their eardrums whirred. There was no hope of escape anymore. Only a miracle could help them now.

Beside the indescribable fear of getting slaughtered, Ori felt his belly begin to tingle again, not from fright alone, but also a strange feeling that someone else was around, like they weren´t alone. He looked around hastily, hoping for that miracle, but he couldn´t make out anything past his sphere of light. Suddenly, a bright flash of light flew through the air with a violent hiss. That exact same second, a bluish glowing arrow pierced the skin of one of the uglier slimy creatures. Then two more met their fate, as did another three after that. A true rain of arrows hit their targets one by one. The little spirit watched in awe as their foes fell and dissolved into the air. However, the remaining evil creatures still had the will to fight and pounced at them with a shriek. Yellow, black-striped creatures ran towards them, their claws hissing through the air as they barely dodged each swipe. An arrow hit one of the creatures in the head, but they weren’t dying quickly enough. “This won´t end well!” Raiki yelped, but by now he’d had enough time to come up with an idea. “Let´s climb this tree!” he yelled, pointing to a broad trunk riddled with small holes. He then took the little spirit by the paw and climbed up to a branch where the creatures weren´t able to follow them. “That was close!” he said with a sigh of relief. The remaining dangers were taken out one by one by the flashing arrows, and eventually all of them were eliminated. “We had a real guardian angel…” Raiki breathed. Ori could see a bluish light jumping through the branches, so he jumped down to follow it. Out of breath, Raiki struggled to follow. “Ori, where are you going? Wait!”

Ori arrived at a small lake, shimmering in the light of the sun coming through a little gap that let light through. When he slowly closed the distance to the water, a glowing creature jumped down right in front of him.

He couldn’t trust his eyes, it was a spirit guardian! It was a beautiful one. She had a round-shaped head with an acute chin and long, black eyelashes. Her tail was longer than his own, and she had more fur than him. Her arms were thinner, and her paws were as soft as a flower. Her ears were smaller, placed right on the top of her head in a thin pattern.

_“When he met Aria for the first time…”_

Meanwhile, while Ori was stunned into inaction, Raiki caught up to his friend, stopping short the second he caught a glimpse of the new guardian. “Ori…she´s just beautiful!” said the moki in awe. He’d had no idea how magnificent a spirit guardian could look. Neither of them were quite sure how to thank their gorgeous savior.

_“His wonderful sister…”_

The little spirit carefully drew nearer to her and stretched out his arm. Behind him, the motionless, defeated creatures dissolved into a dark dust that blew away in the air.

_“She took down the forest´s grime.”_

She grabbed his paw and pulled him into a hug. Ori was touched by this act and blushed through his fluorescent fur.

_“All on her own…”_

Her majestic weapon vanished in her paws.

_“With her mighty bow.”_

They stopped hugging and smiled at each other, their paws still resting on each other’s shoulders. Speaking directly from his heart, Ori pronounced merely two words: “Thank you.”

 _“It was true sibling love.”_

“H-hey…you two.” The moki stepped closer to them. “I´m very sorry Ori. I was selfish to bring you here with me. Finding that stone became all I cared about. You were the one who found it, but I forgot about your safety. I forgot that you had just been born last night…I—” He never finished his sentence, as he felt a warm light touch him. It was Ori, who was giving him a warm hug with a smile on his face. “You—you really forgive me?” asked Raiki. “Are you sure?” The little spirit looked into the moki’s eyes and nodded. “Thank you, Ori…You´re the best friend I’ve ever had.” Raiki´s happiness was evident across his whole body. Tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. “Well then…let´s get back home. Our parents are probably concerned about us.” He turned to the spirit beside Ori. “Ehm…what´s your name, actually?” asked Raiki, realizing that they didn’t hadn’t actually learned the name of their new best friend. “Aria.” she answered in a soft voice. “What a beautiful name. Ori, you can be proud to call her your sister!”

_“May they grow up together as a family.”_


	4. Teacher

* * *

_As my dear children grew,_

_It was time to teach them how a spirit guardian lives._

_A real master came into my view,_

_I was sure that he held valuable wisdom_

_To protect our beautiful kingdom._

Several years have passed since they met, and the two spirits have since learned to speak, using their time to become stronger, both physically and in their hearts. It is currently early morning, about an hour before dawn, and Ori is one of the very few beings awake in the whole village. Ever the early bird, Ori went to the lake closest to the village to cool down his face and let the cold water wake his mind. Soon, the sun will rise again to begin the dawn of a new day.

He heard the soft hooves of his sister dragging through the grass behind him and turned to her. She still looked very tired. “Ori…” she labored, “can you explain…why you always get up this early? For me it´s still the middle of the night.” Aria managed to sound even more tired than she looked. “Good morning, Aria. If you’ll catch a look at the sky, you’ll see that isn’t quite right.” She did what she was told with a confused look on her face, but she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “What do you mean?” Ori let out a bark of laughter. “Do you see the moon?” he said. That confused her even more. She didn’t see anything other than the stars. “No. It´s not there.” Ori nodded excitedly. “That´s right! Because the sun is about to rise soon.” He was much more awake then she was. It was like he drank something that gave him pure energy, she couldn’t think of another reason. “Now, on to a more important topic, can you tell me why you get up this early every day?” He sighed and smiled. “I witnessed the dawn of my very first day on Niwen. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to witness every sunrise, just because it´s so beautiful. First it´s a dark red, slowly becoming a hot orange and eventually releasing a bright light that awakes the forest to a new day. Also, I want to use every hour of the day as if they were my last.” “That´s…very philosophical, Ori.” Aria replied. She was rendered totally speechless by her brother´s words. She was still struggling to come back with a reply when she noticed a bright light coming from behind him.

“Look!” Aria said, pointing, “The spirit well is shining brighter than usual. Maybe father wants to tell us something!” Ori turned to look behind himself. “You´re right Aria! Let’s hope he has something interesting to say.”

They both sat down right in front of it and closed their eyes simultaneously.

_“My children, hear my words. As spirit guardians you are tasked with protecting the forest. In order to prepare you for the dangers you may face ahead, I send you the strongest swordsman of our family with the goal of teaching you the skills you will need in those times. May your light be fulfilled.”_

Ori´s eyes widened in pure excitement. He hadn’t even started yet, but he could already feel a butterfly of emotions arise in his belly. “Did you hear that Aria? We’re going to learn how to fight with a real master! I´m so excited! Maybe he’ll teach you something about your bow that you’ve never even dreamed of!” Ori began to think of all the cool things they might be taught. “This is going to be fun!” Aria replied. “Come on, we need to wake up Mama!” She hadn’t needed to say it, Ori was already halfway back to his house before she finished.

Peacefully the motherly creature lay in the straw, wallowing slowly from side to side. She felt a very soft weight on her body. It was comfortable for a moment, until it began to dance around. Her ears perceived the cute, clear voice of her adopted son. Although she was sleeping, she smiled slightly. There was so much happiness packed into his voice. “Mama! Wake up! Wake up! It´s a very special day!” Naru shook just enough for the excited spirit to jump down. She opened her eyes very slightly and asked, “…What´s so special about today…my child?” Ori hesitated for a moment to take a deep breath. “Aria and I just got a message from the Spirit Tree, we’re going to meet someone today. A weapon master from our kind! He will teach us how to fight to protect the forest. We can finally become real spirit guardians!” “That…sounds great my dear!” she replied with a smile.

“Ori!” Aria finally caught up to her brother. She was panting from the run. “You—you vanished so quickly—the Spirit Tree wasn´t done talking…” The little spirit ears drooped slightly, he felt guilty to not have listened to his father. “Really? I´m—I´m sorry, but I was so excited. What did else did he say?” Aria gasped for air and replied, “He said”—she took a deep breath—“that we will meet him at the big meadow in the east and that we need our own weapons. I mean, I have my bow but you…” His eyes widened. “You´re right. I don´t have a weapon. I didn´t think about that…” Just as he began to wonder how he might fix that, he heard a soft rustle come from the hammock in front of them. “Don’t worry kid. I’ll carve you one if you want.” His ears stood up again. “Really Gumo? Would you do that for me?” His face lit up. Gumo smiled, “Of course I will!” Before he could move to start, he felt a tight hug around his legs, Ori´s light shining below his field of vision. “Thank you Gumo, you´re the best!”

After Gumo had left to go carve Ori a weapon, Ori began to look around the noisy village, still having one more person he wanted to tell the news. “Good morning Raiki, how are you today?” The young moki turned around, he had been closing the door to his house behind him. He already knew who had spoken, but he wasn’t one to turn down the sight of his glowing best friend, whose happy aura was enough to cause almost anyone to smile. “Oh, hey Ori! I feel great today, thanks for asking! How about yourself, did you sleep well?” Ori beamed, his glowing body only enhancing his jovial appearance. “As always!” The moki scratched the back of his head, he knew something was up before being told, as Ori looked even happier than usual. “You look very happy.” Raiki gave the spirit an inquisitive stare. “What are you up to?” Ori didn’t need to be asked twice. “Aria and I are going to learn how to fight. A real master of our kind will teach us! Our father personally told us this morning.” Raiki was happy for his friend. “That sounds great! I´m a bit older now, so I help my parents with their work. Sometimes it makes for a lot of fun.”

A deep voice called across the clearing. “Ori! Your weapon is ready!” That was the signal that he needed to wrap up. “Oh, looks like I need to go now. Have a lot of fun today, maybe you can visit us!” The little spirit ran off in the direction where the familiar voice came from. “I will!” Raiki called out. “Great! See you soon!”

Panting, Ori arrived at Gumo´s workshop. He could smell the pleasant fragrance of freshly sawn wood and feel the warm air of the candles that filled the room. It wasn’t smoky air, there were also handmade windows that let in fresh air from outside. The round creature ground the wooden weapon over the table and let it shine in the sunlight coming through the windows. Ori´s eyes widened, the weapon was gorgeous.

“Do you like it?” asked Gumo, though he already knew the answer. “It´s beautiful,” Ori replied, giving Gumo a hug, “You´re the best!” Gumo laughed. “Now hurry up, Aria ran ahead already.” Ori was reminded of why he wanted the weapon in the first place. “Right. I hope I can still catch up to her.” He took less than a second to vanish out of the big building, sprinting to the east meadow. “Our little boy,” Gumo sighed.

As he was making the final approach to his destination, he felt how the air slowly changed around him, a more serious atmosphere. Slowing his pace, he took notice of how the saturated colors of the forest had been devoured by the aura of pure concentration. A strange feeling pulled his focus towards a specific direction, where the aura was strongest. Reaching a break in the treeline, he finally arrived at the meadow, which was primarily colored in grey and touched up with a soft green undertone. In the middle of the field, he saw a spirit guardian standing completely still. The guardian’s eyes were closed and his hands were folded in the middle of his chest. Ori could feel the aura of pure wisdom, strength, and raw concentration throughout every vein of his body. Everything else in his environment had been blurred out. Just the guardian’s mere appearance filled Ori with nothing but respect.

“Ori! There you are! We waited for you.” He could hear his sister´s voice, clear as it could be.

“You finally arrived. We are whole now. Try to relax every muscle and clear your mind completely. Then, and only then, we can start.” Every word of the elder spirit had the hearts of the kids beating slower and slower, until they could hear their own breath.

“Greetings, Ori and Aria. I´m happy to be allowed to train and teach you.” The guardian made a long pause after almost every sentence. “I want you to take ten deep breaths. As deeply as you can.” They did what he told them without comment. “Now, lay down your hands down on the ground, stretch your back, and anchor your hooves deep in the grass.” The strange position was uncomfortable for both of them. It was difficult to maintain, and they could feel their arms burning from within. Satisfied with the students’ positions, he continued, “Try to remain in this posture until I tell you to stop.” At first, the position was merely difficult, but as time went on, it began to feel impossible to maintain for even a second longer. Time advanced as slowly as it could and their arms began to shiver from the effort as the edges of their vision turned red. They hoped for nothing more than the command to rest, but it didn’t come.

“Because the body shivers, you have not yet reached the border of exhaustion.” Clenching their teeth, the two tried to keep up. Their arms felt like they were only controlled by their mind and will now, like their muscles had failed already. “Observe the pain. What lets you suffer? Is it really your body, or is the pain just in your mind?” Many minutes passed, and the two spirits were teetering on the edge of crying in pain. Their wills were resolute, however, and they held the facade of strength for a little longer. Of course, it was now that the master came with new torture. “Good. Now I want you to bend your arms until you hover just above the ground, then straighten them again.” Whatever did he want from them?! Ori had been pushed far past his previous limits already, he would need a miracle to be able to bend his arms when they already burned with a fire hotter than any he had felt before. While it should have been impossible, together the spirits began the hardest work they had ever done. They needed to focus as hard as they could just to prevent their arms from snapping in exhaustion. The strong urge to let go flared ever higher, the only thing keeping them from doing so being the shame of disappointing their new teacher. To avoid that fate, they kept doing the exercise, even as their body screamed. As they leaned ever closer to failure, the voice spoke again, “Visualize a river and let it guide you. Do not listen to your pain.” Both of them could feel how sweat dropped from their body into the grass. The dripping sound became a rhythm they focused on, a constant low splash that served to divert their attention. Soon the floor beneath them was so wet, it was as if they had wetted themselves.

Again, many minutes passed as they performed the excruciating exercise while they suffered the burning pain of exhaustion. The elder spirit waited for the moment of their breakdown. As it approached, he slowly began to draw a long, wooden sword.

_“ **Ori!** ”_

His own name echoed a thousand times in his head and terrified him. He didn´t know what was going to come next. When he sensed the eyes of his teacher pierce his soul, however, he had a pretty good idea.

“ **Defend yourself!** ”

The two words echoed throughout the entire meadow as the guardian zoomed towards the exhausted little spirit at an insane pace, sword drawn and ready to attack him. Ori had no choice but to defend himself. Fortunately, his own weapon laid on the grass right next to him. Draining what felt like his last reserves of strength, he grabbed for the weapon. He was in a defensive stance not a second too early, as he felt the blunt impact rumbling through his entire body when their wooden blades hit each other with a loud crack. “That´s right Ori! Don´t allow me to hit you!” said his teacher in an approving tone, as he only pushed harder. Ori tried his best to avoid or block the violent slashes. It wasn’t easy, and with every movement his sweat dropped and flew through the air like water. Adding to the water theme, his eyes were full of tears from the effort. Not one to miss minor details, the voice called out again. “Keep your eyes open!” His entire body felt weak, but pure adrenaline kept him up. “Watch your legs! Stand in a stable position!” His heart beat a thousand times a minute as he tried to prevent every deadly swing of his enemy´s blade from hitting him. With every swing he blocked rather than dodged, his body vibrated more and more violently from the impact, and his already strong desire to strike back grew. He jumped back to dodge a single swing and zoomed towards the spirit with a forceful blow. The voice showed no surprise when it called again, “Very good Ori! Attack with the intention to hurt me!” Ori gave his best and swung his blade relentlessly towards his enemy. “You need to parry!” His swing hit the other’s blade and an indescribable force flung his arms to the side. Almost no time afterward, he felt a soft touch on his chest. It was the point of his opponent’s weapon. He was defeated.

“Well fought, young spirit. Now bow to your opponent.” Ori’s body was controlled by willpower alone by now, he gave the bow, but sank to the ground rather than getting back up afterward. His eyes closed, and his lungs tried to consume all the air left in the forest. “Little one, you need more balance if you want to fight with efficiency. Take my hand.” He opened his eyes again, but his sight was still blurred from effort. His body felt like it was screaming, “Stop it! Please, stop it!” Even so, he slowly stretched out his arm, reaching for the paw of the spirit. “Can you stand?” asked his teacher. His vision was finally clear enough to see what his teacher looked like. He looked very similar to himself, but taller. The peaks of his long ears were colored in a dark blueish tone, as well as the end of his tail and also the center of his chest. His eyes were smaller and, and they glowed with a yellowish tone. The blue-tinged fur confused Ori a bit. Forgetting the question he had been asked, he asked one of his own. “Can—can you tell me why your fur is colored so strangely?” The spirit sighed in return. “I will explain later. Now, can you stand, I asked?” Somewhat embarrassed to have forgotten the question so quickly, Ori replied, “I think so… I feel a bit dizzy.” Ori smiled a bit, but that quickly went away when he heard, “Good, then stand on one leg only. After Aria finishes her own exercise, you can stop. If you get tired, change the leg you’re standing on, but never use both legs.” Almost in disbelief, Ori muttered, “I—I will try it.” The older spirit interrupted the younger one. “Forget about trying. Do it or don´t do it. There is no other way.” “Right!” Ori shouted. “I will do it!” Pleased with the new resolve of his student, the teacher offered a small amount of advice. “Fold your hands in front of your chest and fixate on a point over the horizon. That will facilitate your balance.” Commited now, Ori lifted his leg. As expected from someone so exhausted though, as he did that, the other immediately began to shiver. It felt impossible to keep that position for any longer than ten seconds, but his will was strong.

“Now it’s your turn, Aria. Get up.” It felt like it took a whole minute just to stand up. Every one of her muscles shivered from the effort required. Her arms had remained bent the entire time, and now they felt like useless sticks hanging from her shoulders. Only her mere will was able to move them. “Young lady, you will need more strength in your arms if you want to master your bow. I want you to hit that target I hung on the branch of this tree up ahead.” The target was tiny, and it looked like it was more than two hundred meters away. She wasn’t sure if she could hit it if it had been half that distance.

“Clear your mind, Aria. Focus only on that target. Imagine how your arrow will pierce through it. Think of your arrow flying through an eternal space, never stopping. Visualize that as strongly as you can. Then, shoot.”

_Visualize._ The word echoed throughout Ori´s head while his leg burned. It was painful to leave his whole weight up to only one leg, even when he wasn’t dead tired. Suddenly, his vision of the field disappeared. Another picture appeared in his mind, a full scene actually. He heard his own breath as he ran for his life. His hooves hit the surface of a branch, then a grassy meadow, and nothing as he jumped over a lake of toxic water. His heart was beating heavily, his body was filled with pure adrenaline. He heard a loud growl come from behind him. Something chased him, that’s why he was running. His legs wouldn’t give up. The fear and will to survive was too strong for that.

He stopped struggling against the sensation and stood still as a tree, his eyes closed and his mind full of concentration.

His sister was touched by the sudden discipline of her brother. It motivated her to see what was possible with pure will alone. She drew her bow, summoned an arrow, and pulled the arrow back to the stop. She pinched her eyes, squinting until she saw nothing but her target. Her teacher’s voice spoke to her again. “Try to relax your arms, even if it´s exhausting to keep the arrow back. If you feel ready, hold your breath and let the arrow go on its journey.” Taking his advice, she relaxed her arms. They didn´t shiver even the slightest bit now. She let go. With a spiritual hiss the projectile flew through the air and hit its target directly in the center. She could hear the impact of the arrow on the wood. “Yes! I hit it!” she cheered happily, shaking out her arm. She felt ready for whatever he could give her next. “Well shot, Aria,” her teacher began. “Now try to shoot five arrows at once.” Confidence in herself dashed, Aria swallowed as her eyes widened. “That sounds… impossible.” Ignoring her stunned disbelief, he continued, “Don´t think about mundane things like ‘possibility.’ Think about your goal that you want to achieve today. Put nature´s rules aside and push out of your mind for now.”

She tried to relieve her every thought of any doubt and took a deep breath to steady herself. Her right arm was invisible to a normal eye, moving at blinding speeds as she shot four arrows at the same time. Only two of the arrows hit their target. Ashamed, she turned to her teacher and made a disappointed face. “Not bad,” the spirit said. “Let´s try something different for now. Your enemies will never stand still like this target. I will throw some leaves into the air, and you will try to hit two of them.” Aria blinked. “Different and difficult. I will make it regardless!” she sighed, though she sounded more confident than before. “That´s the spirit, Aria. Focus on your targets, archer! You want to protect the forest.” He distanced himself from her, walking for about a hundred meters, until he was almost too tiny for her eyes to see. Now it seemed it would be a miracle for her to hit even one of the leaves. Again, her confidence collapsed like a house of cards. She doubted that she would be able to complete her goal. “How should I—” she started, but he interrupted her before she could finish. “Don´t think about the distance. Focus on your targets!”

Everything was silent now, except for her breath and heartbeat. Everything but her teacher was unimportant, blurred out without a second thought. Time slowed to the speed of plant growth. She focused completely on the spirit´s paw that was holding the leaves. Any second now, he will throw the leaves into the wind to be blown away. Her focus was perfect, but he waited to throw, time crawling forward. The waiting tested her patience, forcing her to keep her focus for longer. She wouldn’t let him confuse her. Instead, she visualized how her arrows pierced their targets one by one, pinning them to the ground.

Finally, the leaves flew into the air. It was her sign to shoot. The arrows cut through the air traveling exactly along their calculated path to their targets. One pierced through a leaf, annihilating it. Then another hit, followed by a third. The rest of the leaves fell down to rest on the meadow´s green. She couldn´t believe that she had hit one at all, let alone surpassing the actual task of hitting two of them. Her face filled with pride. “Did you see that?” she cried as she jumped into the air in joy. An approving voice shot back at her. “You went beyond my expectations, young lady. Well done.”

“That was great, Aria!” The young moki had found time to visit the spirits in their training. He smiled when he saw the pride in her face. Happy that one spirit was doing well, he turned to the little spirit next to her, standing completely still on one leg like a small tree. “But what is Ori doing there?” As the teacher went back to his students, he answered, “He trains his balance.” A look of understanding came over Raiki’s face, and he gave encouragement to his friend. “You´re doing great Ori!” Ori didn’t react, and an arrow of doubt pierced his chest. “Ori? Are you okay?” Still, there was no sign that he had heard them. The moki tried one last time. “Little one, you can stop now. Aria has finished her training. Hey! Do you hear me?” Aria began to get worried herself, clenching her hands with a worried expression. “Is—Is he alright?” she asked. As the older spirit closed his distance to the group, he answered with a calm voice: “Don´t worry. He is fine. He lost himself in his own trance, the calmest state a mind can get in.” Knowing exactly what to do, he softly touched the entranced being’s folded hands and whispered: “Ori, come back to us. Open your eyes, little one. It´s okay. We´re done now.” As if a mountain of ice melted away, the little spirit began to move his body and slowly opened his eyes. His hands and his leg gently moved down to their usual positions once more. The first thing he saw was the friendly face of his teacher only a few inches from his face. “Welcome back, little one.”

He shook his leg in the air. It felt like rubber. “Ouch.” When he tried to stand on the hoof, he lost his balance and stumbled backwards. Fortunately, his sister grabbed his paw before he could hit the ground. His teacher’s face showed a little sympathy. “Your leg will suffer for now. But you will be stronger soon, trust me.” Aria tapped his shoulder from behind, curious. “You never told us your name.” His thin eyes widened slightly, before he said, “Ah, yes, you´re right. I was so immersed in training you that I forgot a basic introduction. My name is Kiri, and I´m going to be your teacher for the next few years. As long as you to your best in training, we will get along well. We´re done for now. Let´s bow to each other to finish the lesson.”

Both students gave a reverent bow to their master, relieved to be finished with today. Dealing with Aria first, he said, “Aria, I sense a great talent to aim from within you. Use it wisely.” Then, he turned to her brother and smiled. “You Ori, you house a natural gift with a spirit blade, and should be able to perfectly handle one by the end of your training. Both of you have an inner fire. Find it. Ignite it. Always be aware of your abilities. Remember, only if you heed this advice and keep it in mind, can you protect the forest.” He turned to leave. “Thank you, master Kiri,” Aria spoke at his retreating form.

Even after Kiri had vanished into the infinite depths of the forest, Ori was still not responsive. Forgetting where he was for a moment, he lost himself in his own mind, pondering about that scenery he saw in his vision. “They must be memories…” he mumbled quietly to himself, but his sister was close enough that she could understand him. “What do you mean Ori?” Not ready to share his secret, Ori gave a quick excuse. “I was so deep in my mind that my head is still dizzy. Please ignore any strange words I give out. I can´t think straight.” Aria sighed, “Oh dear, the training really hit you.” Not wanting to lose too much face, Ori replied, “It—it actually was pretty great… But now I´m exhausted.” His mind was actually clearer than it had been in a while, but he didn´t want to tell anyone what he saw. Not even his own sister. “Memories of him?… Or is it actually… me?” he mumbled again, but he didn´t get a response from his sister this time.

Still, nobody but him yet knew what kind of soul rested inside of him.


	5. The Mysterious Lake

* * *

_“It was time to go home…”_

The evening was drawing to an end as the sun passed over the horizon, bringing in the colder, stronger winds of the night. Never before had the spirits worked so hard, and their muscles expressed pain with every step home they took. Their minds were clouded and dizzy, and much like the training earlier, the willpower they held was their greatest asset in getting home. The meadow really wasn’t that far away from the village, but it only felt like they got further from their destination from each step.

As the spirits walked, they struck up a mild conversation to take her mind off the pain. “I’m so exhausted,” sighed Aria. Her arms hung limp from her shoulders. “Tell me about it,” said Ori, his hooves brushing against the grass, too heavy to lift further. “Actually, no, wait, tell me about your performance with the bow. I wish I could have seen you, but I was so deep in my own mind I lost track of the outside world. How did it go?” Aria brightened considerably, she was still amazed she had done nearly as well as she had. “It went pretty well, I would say.” She would have left it there, but the moki with them wasn’t content with such an understatement. “Pretty well? It was great! Kiri threw a pawful of leaves into the air and she hit three of them before they hit the ground! Her arm moved so fast you couldn’t see it! Don’t sell yourself short.”

Ori brightened himself, his eyes widening in awe. “Wow! Is that really what happened Aria? That’s amazing! Now I really regret not seeing it,” shouting with both astonishment and excitement. Aria giggled at his compliment, and joked, “Yeah, it made for a lot of fun too, but I think it would have been a little nicer if my arms weren’t limp noodles before I even started.” Her brother mimicked firing a bow in the air, shooting at various stars. “You’ll be the best archer Niwen ever knew, I’m sure of it! You should be proud of yourself,” complimented Ori. Aria was ready to come back with a joke, but she noticed something wrong with his expression. While he did look happy, his ears hung down from his head in a worried pose.

_“He sensed that something woke up in his mind…”_

“Ori, is everything alright? Your ears don’t normally… ” Ori reached up over his ear and brushed over it with a brief movement. He needed a lie, fast. “Oh, these. They’re exhausted, just like you and I, right? I’m actually kind of impressed that you can keep them up after all that.” The lie was okay, but his tone didn’t match what he said. Aria could sense that something was eating away at Ori’s mind, as after all, nobody knew him better than she did. She had lived with him ever since they had met. She lifted her paw, and softly poked his little shoulder. “Ori, if there is anything bothering you, you can tell me. I know something isn’t right, you’re never like this.” Ori thought for a moment before laying his right paw on her arm and slowing his voice. “What are you talking about, Aria? If I was hiding something, I would tell you. You’re my sister.” The sentence physically hurt to get out, like it got stuck in his throat. He hated lying to her like this, hated that he couldn’t tell her about his soul. But he was afraid, how would she react? Maybe she wouldn’t believe him, or treat him differently afterwards. He couldn’t deal with that! Something was forcefully holding him back from telling anyone about his secret, especially her. He thought for a moment, thinking “What if I am the gleaming hero, and I got a new life? But that couldn’t be true, I can’t remember my past… These visions are just fragments that don’t confirm or deny anything.” His head was flooded with similar thoughts, passing through his mind like a thunderstorm. He could sense the disappointment emanating from his sister, she could easily tell he was hiding something from her.

_“It frightened him from within…”_

“Ori, you are an awful liar. I just want you to know that you aren’t alone. We’re here for you when you want to talk about it,” she said with a soft voice. It only served to make Ori even more ashamed with himself, and his head sank down in his thoughts and uncertainty. An uncomfortable silence enveloped the siblings as the whirlwind of their emotions became stronger. The young moki was displeased himself, and he tried to lift the unpleasant mood. “Look, there’s the village. We made it!” A warm light shone through the windows of the homes, their fluffy residents enjoying the evening through various methods. Some voices could be heard reading a story to their children, others could be heard laughing and shouting as they played. “I’ll bet you guys are thirsty after all that training! Let’s visit ‘Gumo’s House of Beverages,’ it’s been open since the middle of the day. What do you say?” Ori felt that suggestion was pretty decent, and might help lighten the mood. “That sounds pretty good, Raiki.” Now was for the difficult part. “Aria… did you want to come with us?” The hesitation in her answer was all he needed as she rubbed her exhausted eyes. They couldn’t hold on much longer until they closed for the night. “I’m… very tired. I need to recover after that training, I can barely stand as is.” Ori was slightly disappointed, but he had a full understanding of why she would choose to go to bed. He was drained himself, and would have preferred to go to sleep himself, but he didn’t want to leave his best friend alone. “I see,” he said, giving her a warm hug. “Then… I guess I’ll see you at home.” His paws sank lower to the ground with every word, and after he left he let out a sigh. Somehow, he felt that she must be very concerned about him. Personally, he felt helpless to assure her and keep his secret. His mind couldn’t come up with a solution to the problem, although that didn’t stop the question from repeating thousands of times in his head.

_“But he remained sweet and kind…”_

“Hey Ori, greetings to you Raiki. Come on in.” The voice of the old round creature reached their ears as they took in the pleasant fragrance of wood and warm candles. Gumo sat behind a large table. Of his own craftsmanship, of course. In front of the table were three round stools made from tree trunks. The pair found their place on two of the stools, and Gumo gave them an apologetic face. “You’re a bit late. There’s only one fresh fruit left, the others… well, they look a twinge strange. I’ve had a lot of business today.” Ori was quick to pass. “Raiki should get that fresh fruit.” Gumo, however, was a little confused. “Really? I can split it and share it between the both of you.” His friend also couldn’t believe that Ori would pass up on his beloved juice, he was the person who had trained hard only moments ago, after all. “Ori, you’re definitely the thirstier one of us. Are you sure you want me to have the fruit?” There was no hesitation in Ori’s nod. “Well… thank you,” said Raiki, who was beginning to get concerned too. “But what about you? Don’t you want a drink too?” He received his answer in the form of a soft giggle and a bright smile. “Of course I do! I will take the other fruits. I don’t care if they look weird.” The moki marveled at the bravery of his friend. “You are… quite brave,” replied Raiki, his eyes widening. Gumo was less enthusiastic about letting anyone drink that juice. “Ori, I can’t press those fruits for you, it would terrible for your health. Can’t you just share with Raiki for once? Some mokis came in here earlier and tried those fermented fruits, and they behaved… oddly, to put it mildly, after that.” Ori wasn’t going to go without his juice though. “No, I’ll be fine. I couldn’t ever put off your juice.”

Finally relenting, Gumo poured Ori a small jug of the strange fruit juice. Ori examined the juice, commenting, “It smells interesting, the smell tingles my nose,” as he moved the wooden jug to his mouth. Raiki, excited for something new before, was now more concerned than ever. “Are you really sure you want to drink that, Ori?” he asked, backing away from the foul-smelling drink. As a reply, all he got was, “You should always try something new.” Not to be interrupted again, Ori raised the jug and took a sip of the liquid. He grimaced while narrowing his eyes in disgust, following up with a shake of his head. “It tastes… weird.” That didn’t seem to matter to him, though, as he drank the entire little jug, putting the empty vessel back on the table gently. After that, he wiped the rest of the drink from his lips using his arm and blinked tiredly.

“All of a sudden, my head feels kind of dull.” The little spirit rested his head on his arm as his eyes wandered about the room. “And I feel an odd need to go, even though it really wasn’t that much. Strange…” Gumo took the cup from the table and put it aside. “Alright, that’s enough Ori. I won’t make any more of this poisoned liquid. It makes you sick. You were meant to share the last fruit together.” His voice sounded angry and concerned at the same time.

But the little spirit shook his head. “No, I´m just tired from all the training.” His head dropped to the table, his arm too weak to support it anymore. “The table has become so soft all of a sudden, I wonder…” He never finished his sentence, for at that moment the tired spirit’s eyes finally closed and he fell asleep immediately. “But I thought you had to…” Raiki tried to shake his friend awake, but the spirit didn’t react, dead asleep. Gumo sighed as he got up from the bar and extinguished the candle flames. The sleeping Ori was now the only source of light in the whole room. “Let’s bring him home. He must be exhausted.” Raiki was disappointed, asking, “But… what about—“ Raiki began a sentence, but Gumo cut him off midway as he already knew what the question was about. “Don’t worry. That won’t be a problem,” laughing slightly in his rough voice. “Get home safely, kid.” Raiki was relieved that Ori would be alright, and called, “Alright, well have a good night then, Gumo!” as he left the darkened building.

**II**

A bright bluish light flooded the literally flooded insides of a giant tree. Beneath him, he his ears could sense the violent rush of rapidly rising water, threatening to drown him if he wasn’t fast enough to escape. Time was relentless in its passage, and it traveled as fast as it could, forcing him to react with speed greater than he ever had before. He blinked, and by then he was already all the way to the top, the water gushing out beneath him and soaking his feet with a loud roar. Some of the drops shot higher, landing on his glowing fur and cooling his skin, a welcome feeling as he panted from the effort of climbing so quickly. As he enjoyed his well-deserved shower, a quake in the air almost tipped him over. The frightening shadow of a giant owl covered the comfortable sunlight. “Ku, is that you?” he called, though as the creature approached he began to regret that action. This owl looked like it was death incarnate, with a thirst for his blood without mercy. It landed directly in front of him with a loud thud and began to take harsh steps toward him, edging him closer to the ends of the platform. “What are you doing Ku? You’re scaring me!” At this, the owl screeched and with one beat of its dark wings, delivered a forceful blow that sent Ori tumbling down from the treetop and into the eternal abyss below.

As he fell down through the endless space of the void, the saturated green colors of the forest gave way to darkness, becoming a sad, lifeless grey. The normally lush trees became barren, their leaves scattered to the howling winds. Clouds covered the last rays of sunlight that dared to reach this far, and the entire world was enveloped in a shroud of bleak and utter black. Just as he thought it couldn’t get any worse, the very dimensional fabric of the space he found himself in began to crack in every direction, growing at a rapid speed. With a piercing crack, the universe shattered into tiny pieces to be devoured by the darkness. All that was left was an infinite lake beneath him, rapidly approaching. He hit the water hard in a tremendous splash and gave a small yelp of pain before… nothing.

_“When the past extended its claws…”_

A deep gasp broke the peaceful calm of the house as he woke up drenched in sweat, sitting in his own straw bed. Everyone but him sleep in a deep slumber, undisturbed by his sharp breath. The only sound was the blowing wind, softly encasing the hut in its omnipresent gale. “What a terrible dream,” he whispered to himself, curling back up and closing his eyes in an attempt to return to a better dream. A question occupied his mind, however, and ensured that every attempt he made was a futile one. “Was that supposed to be Ku? Why? She would never do anything like that.” Yet now it was impossible to reenter the dream world. He writhed from side to side, tried various poses, and even tried focusing on nothing at all, but it was of no matter. He couldn’t come to rest as he was. Frustrated, he eventually gave up and stretched with a great yawn. “It’s hopeless now. I’m awake.”

Whilst sitting restlessly on his bed, waiting for daybreak and letting his legs dangle over the floor, he pondered how he would use his extra time productively. “What ever am I supposed to do now?” he thought. Glancing around the room, his sleeping family members and ungodly hour of the day voided any louder activities. Suddenly, he recalled the ending to his dream, and had the perfect idea of where to go. “Of course,” he said. “The lake.”

The cool wind ruffled his fur as he began his short walk to the lakeside. The village was silent in its quiet peace, with only the muffled footsteps of the spirit to break the mood. Any drowsiness he had before stepping out was gone now. The bright moonbeams illuminated the grass along his path like it was paving it for him. After a short and uneventful, but definitely soothing and ethereal trip, the lake was only a few steps away.

_“The only way out was flight…”_

The flat surface of the lake gleamed in the moonlight, the reflection serving to emphasize the spirit guardian’s blue glow as he walked into the cold water. He felt the sensation of the cool water encasing his legs as the waterline passed his pelvis, his eyes closed in relaxation. The feeling brought him into a meditative state, clearing all the debris of his thoughts and flushing them away like a river. He could see an immaculate blue sky without clouds above him. No memory-like apparitions would disturb him here anymore. His head was silent and peaceful for the first time in several hours, leaving him free to enjoy the warm rays of sunlight shine upon his chest and fill his body with their pleasant warmth. A world of his own creation, a beautiful product of his imagination all his to enjoy. A better getaway for his perturbed mind couldn’t possibly exist. Beneath him was the calming wooden bark of the highest branch of the tree he stood upon, overlooking the entire forest from atop its grassy hill.

It wasn’t to last. A soft voice disturbed the silence of his perfect world, becoming louder and more desperate. He opened his eyes to the real world, quickly realizing where he was. He was far beneath the surface of the lake, almost at its center even. He was far too deep to swim up with his air supply depleting as it was. Taking a look below, he lost what little he had of the precious air, a gallon of water painfully taking its place, burning him from within. He wasn’t able to see anything below him, all there was to see being a pitch-black abyss that extended forever, exactly like he had seen in his dreams. The pit was terrifying, but it was nothing in comparison to the other factor causing him distress.

The indescribable fear of not being alone in the dark.

Suddenly, an unidentifiable limb grasped his leg forcefully, yanking him from his still state. He screamed in terror, but nobody could hear him through the inky blackness. It pulled him down with tremendous speed, and what little he could see of the surface above him, twinkling in the moonlight, vanished from his sight forever.

“Ori! Wake up!”

…

_“…or the warmth of family…”_

“Are you crazy? You could have drowned if I wasn’t there!” Ori’s clouded mind barely caught Aria’s angry yelling, addled as he was. Where was he? First, he was overwhelmed by a violent coughing attack as water spilled out from his lungs, displeased with their contents. “Thank you,”— another violent cough—“Aria.” he gasped. “What just happened? I only sat in the water.”

“I heard you leaving the house and at first thought you were just going outside for some air. But you didn’t come back, so I followed the path you left to the lake. I saw something glowing under the water and I couldn’t trust my eyes! Your eyes were closed and your lungs were full of water.” Ori yawned and scratched his head. “Did I really fall asleep?” he asked, somewhat ashamed. Aria turned towards the lake and shrugged, confused as he was. “Apparently. Whatever were you doing by the lake anyway?” The little spirit got off his knees and sat in front of his sister. He stared her dead in the eyes. “I—I need to tell you something.”

“Listen _…_ ” he started, “I’ve had strange visions for all my life now. As if I was reliving the memories of somebody else. These thoughts have flooded my head every day recently and I’ve started to think that _…_ maybe, I’m someone else who is desperately trying to claw his memory back. I’m sorry for hiding that from you, but something… very special rests inside me.” It was nearly impossible to find the right words. Every time he tried to explain something to Aria, the thing he was trying to explain just vanished from his mind. His already faltering speech died, becoming a hopeless silence. His face hid his internal turmoil, angry with himself. “Why can’t I tell her? What is holding me back?” He thought about the new question for a short while, until Aria softly laid her paw on his shoulder and said, “You are definitely something special Ori, there’s no doubt about that. I know it. There’s nothing you need to worry about.” Ori shook his head rapidly, horrified that she’d gotten the wrong idea. “No, you don’t understand—” But before he could complete his sentence, he was interrupted. “I understand you better than you may think.” She petted one of his drooped ears, smiling. The helpless and desperate look on his face melted away, giving up on further explaining his nature. The warmth of his sister’s overwhelming sympathy pushed that problem away, at least for now.

_“He was powerless against his mind´s might.”_

He did want to explain one more thing, however. “Alright,” he said. “But I saw something while I was under the water. I don’t know if it was just another vision, but it definitely made me very uncomfortable. When I looked down, I saw nothing but a terrible black abyss beneath me. Then… well, something violently grabbed my leg and pulled me down until I couldn’t see the surface anymore.” Aria shook her head. “That was definitely a dream Ori. You must’ve been so tired that you forgot you were underwater and fell asleep.” Ori took another glance at the lake. “Maybe you’re right, and it was just a dream… but I can’t help but feel that it was more than that. Something very strange has to be at the bottom. I don’t know what it is, but I can feel it!”

Aria sighed and stretched her arms into the air, clearly not putting any value on Ori’s words. “Do try to get some sleep, brother dear. Tomorrow’s another day, and it’s coming whether you’re sane enough to believe it or not.”

**III**

The wind wasn’t blowing like it had last night, leaving the green landscape stiller than usual. Birds chirped in harmony as soft white cottony clouds covered the azure sky. The only variation from the peaceful scene was the loud knocking sound of wood clashing together, frequently. The panting of an exhausted little spirit became clearer and louder with every breath.

His cover may have been stable and strong as he parried the powerful blows of his opponent’s weapon with clenched teeth, but one swing hit his shoulder with a crack, and he briefly yelped in pain. “Keep your focus on your opponent! Always be looking to foresee their actions!” The stick came from the right, pulling an immediate reverse towards his legs. He blocked the ruse at the last second. While his opponent was open, it was time to strike back. He let out a loud cry as his wooden sword came crashing down with all his strength, hitting his opponent’s weapon so hard that it flew out of their paw. Not letting down the attack, he zoomed towards the enemy and pointed the end of his blade at Kiri’s throat, ending the match in a victory. Panting, he dropped his stick to the ground to rub his aching shoulder. “Ow…,” he mumbled, his eyes glassing over from the pain.

“Very good Ori. You’ve made great progress since we’ve started. Both of you have. Our first training session was over five whole moons ago, and I think it’s time to show you something new.”

“You’ve fought bravely till now, Ori. I think you’re ready to practice with a real spirit blade.” Kiri made a pause to let the sentence sink in, then continued in a louder tone. “We are spirit guardians. While our anatomy is equal to most other living beings, we have special abilities that set us apart from the rest. Most of these abilities are unique to each of us, but there is one ability that we all share.” Enraptured, both students carefully paid attention to his every detail. “Watch.”

He opened his paw facing out from the front of his chest and closed his eyes. With obvious concentration, a spiritual hiss, and blue electricity, emerged a flawlessly sharp blade, seeming to come from nowhere. The blade shone in the sunlight, its dazzling reflective properties almost blinding the observers. Both Ori and Aria were stunned, unable to remove their eyes from the blade. “The weapons a spirit guardian uses are products of our own minds. To form this blade, I merely concentrated my light into a proper shape and materialized it into the blade you see now.” Incredulous, both spoke what they were thinking simultaneously. “Wow! That’s… awesome!” Neither had expected anything like what they had been shown, nor for such a powerful action to be so simple.

“Now it is your turn. Every one of our kind has this ability, so don’t doubt yourselves. Focus your light into whatever you want using your imagination, and materialize it. It can be anything you want it to be.” The children closed their eyes and focused their light as well as they could, using their vivid imaginations to create wondrous weapons. Ori’s paw soon revealed a long, gleaming blade, perfectly straight and as long as his whole body. He was totally overwhelmed by the ease of creating something that only existed in his mind until just now. Aria, for her part, created a sharp throwing star to fit along with her ranged theme. It was so sharp that she almost cut herself on it when it appeared in her paw and had to very carefully change her grip to avoid lacerating herself on its thin edge. “Incredible! I can only imagine…” her voice trailed off as she thought about the infinite possibilities this opened up to her. “Very good, both of you. You are learning very quickly.”

Of course, as with every great thing, there was a downside. Kiri wasn’t finished with is explanation, and he continued, “As you may know, our light is limited in volume. So be careful when wielding your energy. As long as you try nothing longer than a spear, there is no need to worry. But should you ever attempt to exceed this limit, there is a great danger you must be aware of. If you drain your light completely, your death becomes inevitable.”

Their enthusiasm and ideas were cut short as a shocked expression overcame the two younger faces. “Wait…,” began Aria, hesitant on her new ability. “Do you mean to tell us that we, you know, end up”—Ori cut her off, finishing her sentence for her—“killing ourselves if we aren’t careful enough?” His voice was humble, he had already considered crushing obstacles with massive versions of his own creations. Kiri saw their fear, and calmed them by saying “Don’t worry. To die in the attempt, you would have to focus your light with such strength that it would be as if you were trying to lift the Spirit Tree with your bare paws. I’m glad to say it isn’t actually possible to focus so much at once.” Ori let out his pent up breath, relieved. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“And today’s lesson draws to a close, my students. Keep practicing on focusing your light, and you will find success.” The traditional bow to each other was performed, and their master vanished with a blazing blue light like he always did after lessons, dazzling his students.

Ori was the first to swing his weapon like a kid with a brand-new toy. “This is insane!” he said with joy and fascination, ready to try out his new blade’s edge on various targets. Unfortunately for him, his shoulder ached with pain from the hit he had suffered earlier, so much so that it actually caused him problems with moving his left arm. “Ow!” he complained as a wave of pain shot through his shoulder like a bolt of lightning.

“Ori! You should be more careful with your arm,” demanded Aria, concerned for her brother’s reckless attitude like normal. “Show it to me,” she said, pointing at his shoulder. “Wow, he really hit you there, did he?” She rubbed his shoulder gently, applying a light pressure to try to relieve the pain. Ori was uninterested in pressure therapy, however, and had a better idea. “I know what could help now,” he said, raising his arms to his mouth for a shout. “Ku!” he called with his head pointed to the sky. The shout echoed a few times through the trees before falling silent. “Do you think she heard you?” asked Aria. “Of course she did!”

They could feel Ku approaching before they saw her. The air around them began to vibrate, softly at first, but soon became a powerful gale of changing wind directions. As the forces climaxed, they saw the huge body of a giant owl flying right above them, ready to land for a meeting. For the landing, Ku made short, fast wing beats to let herself drop slowly onto the ground without blowing the spirits away. Despite her efforts to land as quietly and softly as possible, her weight ensured a loud thud rang out as her feet hit the ground.

Ori was delighted by the appearance of the friendly owl. He ran towards her with his arms splayed out, calling, “Hey, there you are!” She bent her upper body forward to let the little spirit cuddle what little he could reach of her face. “It’s nice to see you, Ku.” A smile beamed from his face as he closed his eyes and pressed his head further into the soft feathers around her beak. “Can you bring me to Baur’s Peak?” He didn’t wait for confirmation as he launched himself up to reach her back, climbing the final meter to a more comfortable riding position. “Aria, I’d be happier if you came with us too. Don’t worry, she flies gently.” She didn’t have to be asked twice. “Of course I’ll come with you! Let’s head to the mountaintop.” She climbed Ku’s back in much the same way Ori did, crawling to sit behind him as the owl lifted off into the sky.

They flew high into the clouds, the trees below them becoming smaller and smaller, eventually melding into a great green sea of leaves and meadows beneath them. Little birds made their own paths above the sea below them. Looking to the right, they could see the majestic wheels of the water mill and the great village downstream from it. Thousands of colors filled their eyes, and towards the horizon, the glittering blue of the ocean sparkled in the sunlight. Niwen truly was a paradise. But to Ori, everything changed in the blink of an eye.

The vibrant colors shrank away to reveal a bleak, grey world as dark storm clouds covered the sky. Ori could feel the relentless, pounding rain impact his skin, pattering on his head like icicles. The monster of a storm system above him shattered the sky between him and it, sending a powerful lightning bolt directly at him and numbing his ears from the blast. Helpless, he ducked in terror and screamed.

But the world was fine.

“Ori! Are you okay? What happened? Did you hurt yourself?” Aria was startled by her brother’s terrified scream and started looking in all directions for danger, wanting to know what was wrong. Yet the little spirit shook his head slowly. “No… no, I’m fine. My mind played a prank on me again. I sometimes see… uh, how shall I put this… ‘certain things.’” Instantly, Aria asked, “What exactly did you see?” Ori blanched. “No, I shouldn’t have said that… Please, just forget what I said.” Aria didn’t respond for several seconds, not sure how she should react, before eventually sighing, “Fine. Just promise to tell me if you want to talk, okay?”

Even Ku was concerned about her foster brother, and she turned her head to look in his direction. He laughed a bit at this and said, “No Ku, I’m fine. Something must’ve startled me in the clouds, just keep making sure we don’t have anything serious to worry about.” She turned her head back forward as the clouds parted in front of them, revealing the snowy scene before them. They could see the peak of Baur’s Mountain, covered in shining snow. They could feel the cold atmosphere hug them with its full power. Ori took a deep, relaxing breath through his nose, breathing out through his mouth. “Can you feel it, Aria? Nowhere else in Niwen could you breathe such fresh air. Ku, can you bring us over to that little lake there? That would make for a perfect landing spot.”

“Ah, this is going to help a lot,” said Ori as he let himself sink into the deep snow. The cold squeezed his back and smoothed the pain out of his shoulder. “The pain in my shoulder just melts away,” he said, relieved. “Isn’t the snow a bit too cold?” Aria asked, concerned that Ori might have more problems to deal with soon. “No, it’s actually perfect! You really must try it out.”

Ku watched the orange sunset from a large rock beside her friends. It was beautiful, illuminating the clouds with magical colors. Aria, meanwhile, was trying out the snow on the mountaintop. “No, that’s too cold for me, to be honest. How do you enjoy this?” Ori got up from the snow with a smile and tapped it out of his fur. “After I was born, I took a shower in the icy waterfall that comes off this glacier. The cold wasn’t uncomfortable for me then, I just felt the power resting inside. It calmed my mind, and has had the same effects on me ever since.” Aria stopped questioning her brother’s words anymore. He was wild, and truly was something special alright. Instead, it was the perfect moment to ask him about his experience on the flight here, now that he was calmer and they were alone. She laid her paws on his shoulders and stared him right in his eyes. “Now, can you finally tell me what you saw up there? I’m very curious.” The little spirit gave an indignant push. His face lost the smile and assumed a slightly frightened expression. His mind began an internal struggle. “Why is it so difficult to talk about these visions with anyone? She’s my sister, she should know everything.” It was a difficult battle, but the cold helped ease his difficulties. “I… I saw how the world changed around us. It became dark and bleak, clouds covered the sun and congealed into a large monster. The monster sent a stroke of lightning right down at us and we fell into an infinite abyss. It was… truly awful.”

Aria changed her earlier opinion on Ori’s experiences. She had dismissed them earlier, but now she could think, “Ah, so he talks about real visions. They aren’t just mere thoughts or hallucinations, he indeed sees memories. I wonder where they may be from?” She knew from his face though that it would be best to calm her brother down again before he started panicking. Luckily, she had the perfect idea. “Well, we all have our fears Ori. Maybe you’re afraid of clouds.” She began to laugh at that idea and shaped a snowball in her paws, making sure to keep it out of Ori’s sight. As he shouted “What? No I’m not!” indignantly, she pelted him in the chest with a perfectly aimed snowball. “Hey! What comes around goes around, you’ll get that right back!” His fear vanished as a bright smile overtook his face and he began to laugh too, hitting his sister back with another snowball. “Just you try it, nobody defeats me!” she shouted back, hurling another snowball. It barely missed as Ori took a snap dodge, and he taunted, “Missed me!” in a sassy tone. He wasn’t one to get lost gloating though, and his paw was already prepared to throw another snowball. They played the entire evening on the mountaintop together, forgetting all the worries that were their original reasons for coming. They felt the pure freedom that life had gifted them.

For now.

**IV**

_“That night…”_

His heartbeat, the water rumbling in his ears, the bubbles popping about the lake, Ori listed off the few sounds he could hear underneath the water. His mind was clear and calm, not yet back to the hallucination-inducing state it seemed to be in usually. His eyes were closed as he focused on the sounds and feeling of the lake. He sat on the sand in a meditation position, encased by the blue water. The moon above wandered a little bit as he held his breath for longer than he ever could before.

Suddenly, a little fish grazed the edges of his fur and disturbed him enough that he needed to breathe. He lungs took in a huge gasp while still under the water and he immediately swam to the surface. As his head breached the water, he filled his entire body with the air he now had. He panted heavily and was exhausted by the extended time he had spent without oxygen. However, he didn’t have the urge to expel the water he had breathed in, and he was certain that he had swallowed water. Something was different from the first time he almost drowned in the lake. Testing again, he dipped his head below the water and took a breath. A real breath. It wasn’t the water-swallowing experience from before, he just took a breath as normal. His face filled with disbelief, looking for signs that this was just another memory he’d gotten lost in and that Aria would break him out of it soon. But there wasn’t any sign that the world wasn’t real. It definitely felt real. He dared a look beneath him and saw the exact same black abyss from earlier in his dreams. Although it was clearly a poor idea, and his mind repeatedly told him so, his curiosity of what could be at the bottom was too big for him to ignore.

_“He faced his fears.”_

Ori dived into the unknown.


	6. Black Water

* * *

Ori’s breath was shallow, his heartbeat nervously fast. Looking up to where the surface of the lake should have been, glowing softly in the moonlight, there was nothing. Pure darkness was all he could see now, the only source of any light anymore was himself. He illuminated only a small area of the water in front of him, too short a distance to see anything before it was far too late to do anything about it. He widened his eyes to try to remedy the obvious problem that there would be something eventually, but there was nothing to be done. His eyes were useless in the darkness, leaving him with his internal monologue. “This was a bad idea…,” he mumbled to himself. Although being able to breathe while under the water was a big improvement over yesterday’s exploration attempt, he still felt helpless and vulnerable.

As he dove deeper, it began to become difficult to tell up from down. Only the subtle tingling in his belly and the weight of his organs inside him could tell him which direction was the one that led further into the unknown darkness. While sight remained useless, he could feel the water getting colder and colder as he got closer to the bottom, pulling him as if a magnet lingered there. For the meantime, though, nothing but the inky abyss awaited him. It almost felt as if he were making no progress as he swam deeper, without any visible indicators to prove him otherwise. The tingling sense became stronger the deeper he sank, however, ensuring that he was going somewhere. Whether there was an end to the journey was yet to be seen, though.

Suddenly, the water around him became unnaturally thicker, as though he swam in oil. The pressure exerted on his skin threatened to crush his internals, but he soon noticed that it wasn’t the water changing around him, but a presence nearby applying the squeezing. It was the strangest feeling, a nerve deep within the recesses of his mind detected something, and even though he couldn’t see anything, he knew there was an evil aura nearby. A very deadly aura.

Giving up on sight, he closed his eyes to focus on the energy pulling him along. He tried to take a distance of how far he was from the source, but it seemed that no matter which direction he swam in, the feeling only became stronger. He almost involuntarily followed the small fluctuations in the path the sense provided, completely losing his orientation as it twisted and turned towards the source, be it danger or something else.

The stronger the feeling got, the more his mind began to play with all his thoughts, be them related to his situation or not. At first it was only minor questions, but now the nearly unbearable tingling in his belly shot around like a lightning bolt that couldn’t decide on a place to land. What awaited him at the bottom? Why couldn’t he avoid its presence even when he traveled in a different direction? What would it do with him once he got there?

Meanwhile, his stomach seemed to be having its own thoughts, independent of his input. Not only could he feel how it digested the fruits he had eaten recently, but more importantly the fervent screaming for him to cease with his foolish curiosity and swim for the surface immediately.

No matter. It wasn’t like he could stop now, his curiosity pulling on him with a strong suction and bringing him ever further down into the abyss.

Finally, his vision was able to catch a silhouette of something in front of him. Excited at first, he quickly decided against that feeling as his heart skipped a beat.

Before him was the ugly, unpleasant appearance of an enormous, hungry plant with a gigantic mouth. It was as if the abyss itself had culminated into a physical form, a living creature ready to claim its prey.

And he was the victim.

His concerns from earlier were correct. By the time he had confirmed that the plant was indeed in front of him, he was already doomed. His screams tore the eerie silence apart as the plant caught him in a forceful grab and ensnared his limbs. They got louder as the plant opened its horrible maw, equipped with its facsimiles of teeth and began to move him toward it.

He tried everything, struggling long and hard to move anything useful, even trying to bite the plant and tear away, but it was clearly a futile effort.

There was only one option left. “I must try it!” he shouted to himself, psyching himself up for the attempt. He closed his eyes and focused on a certain picture he had visualized earlier. A long, thin blade, with a mono-molecular edge. The blade materialized in his paws and cut through the plant’s tissue easily, as if he were cutting butter. With a shout, he swirled his sword around him and ripped himself free of the plant’s grasp, it’s dark-green tangles dying as they sank to the lake’s floor.

Yet the plant was anything but defeated.

He quickly realized that his opening move was only the beginning of a tough battle for survival, a fight to the death. His first real fight he’d ever been in, and it was with the monstrosity before him. Even though he didn’t feel ready for such an experience, he simply didn’t have a choice. He would have to fend for his life.

His heart beat a thousand times a minute and his breath was shallow both from fear and disgust. He kept the tip of his weapon pointed at the enemy, grasping the hilt as tightly as he could.

While the plant didn’t have eyes per say, it was able to sense the danger coming from its intended prey. Possibly it would be too tough to be worthwhile? Maybe it would be a good idea to look for something else? But there weren’t any other options. No other still living options, at least. The only option was the tasty, squishy spirit and its soft glow. The plant shut its mouth and prepared its long green tentacles for a strike. The little creature wasn’t a mere victim anymore, he became a real opponent that the plant had to defeat in order to survive.

“That’s right!” Ori yelled. “I… won’t… be… your… dinner!” he said, stuttering second half of his message. It was only normal to be scared of anything that wanted to tear him into tiny pieces for eating, after all. Oddly enough, the traumatic experience actually served to calm his earlier questions. He didn’t focus on the irrelevant “past” or “future” anymore. All that remained was the present, and he zeroed in on it. Here and now, that was all that mattered. This fight wouldn’t end in a draw.

The moment before action was always the worst, the tension balanced and yet imminently crumbling, the last few threads supporting far more than they could, snapping one by one. Time stood still as Ori held his position, bravely holding the sword in his paws.

Whoosh! The deadly tentacles of the plant zoomed at him at tremendous speeds. It had made its decision, locking in their fates. The little spirit was prepared for that move, and he swam aside as quickly as he could, swinging his blade through the area he once was with all the force he could muster through the dense water. When the green tentacles arrived at their destination moments later, they found themselves cut off from their source and sank into the black, lifeless and dead.

Silence arose again. The spirit tried his best to stay calm and made sure to watch every movement his enemy made for any sign of an attack. As far from the plant as he was, the only option he had was counterattack, inefficient as it may be. He still had to figure out a way of rendering the plant harmless, how to strike back himself. Fortunately, his teacher Kiri had taught him much, including the technique of remaining calm even in the face of death.

There wasn’t much he could do, however. He was the only light source down this far, and he couldn’t make out anything that might reveal his opponent’s plans. The hit he had scored from before was merely a product of incredible luck.

Suddenly, Ori could feel a strong limb grasp around his chest, complete with a slippery, sharp texture. It was so tight that he could feel the individual nerves shooting bolts of pain through his system. The sensation caused him to release a brief squeak before regaining his focus. It was obvious now that he wasn’t going to win this fight by attacking the plant from the outside, and he thought about just letting it believe it won. Just letting it get its huge mouth over him, and escaping afterwards. Maybe he could actually fight fairly from inside the hunter’s maw, where things would be close enough that he couldn’t miss? Of course, that plan was dangerous. What if the plant closed its jaw faster than he could avoid the fangs, and they locked him in? What if he dove too deep, and was devoured as he fell into whatever lay beyond its growling throat? There weren’t any other options he could think of, however. He was already at the mercy of the plant.

Finally catching its victim, the plant pulled its trap back to its mouth. Ori had to be fast, if he took too long then there was no telling what would happen. He swirled his blue blade around in a skillful movement and broke free, placing him directly in front of the mouth of the plant.

Before the plant could react to the spirit’s trick, Ori stuck his weapon right into the walls of its mouth, cutting deeply through the plant’s “flesh.” He cut so deeply that the plant began to writhe strangely in pain and allowed Ori to distance himself from the dangerously sharp teeth. The enemy had spent every one of its strong tentacles in its attempts at catching him earlier, and had no means of grabbing him now. Yet the fight was far from over, it would not be discouraged from finally catching its prey at whatever cost. It had to be possible somehow!

The little spirit hovered motionlessly above the plant, completely concentrated on the plant’s actions. “What are you going to do next?” he thought. A second later, he had a sudden idea. His enemy wasn’t able to reach out for him anymore, and escape should be easy!

Or so he thought.

While the plant may not have had limbs with which to strike, that certainly was not enough to immobilize it. It began to float upward towards him, and forced Ori to swim to maintain his safe distance. He carefully watched the plant from every angle he could, looking for what it could possibly hope to be doing. Then, along with a gulp in disgust and fear, he saw. The plant had created tentacle-like legs and began to walk… or potentially hover, it wasn’t like he could tell… along what looked to be the bottom of the lake bed. It didn’t move quickly, and he thought he was safe for the time being, but to his surprise, the lumbering pace wasn’t even close to its top speed. It shot right at him like a furious octopus and he barely managed to dodge the attack at the last second, taking the opportunity to run his sword down its side. He wasn’t prepared though, and the attack didn’t have nearly the effect he hoped it would.

Treating inertia like a game, the plant turned around almost instantly and zoomed at him even faster than it had before. Ori didn’t have any time to react, much less put any plan into action. In shock, he held his breath as he tried to figure out what had just happened. All he had seen was how the blackness of the underwater world had vanished to reveal the dark green color of the plant’s insides.

He was lucky he could see at all, any other creature would have been rendered blind far before they ever reached this point. The bluish light he brought everywhere scratched at the sharp contours of the teeth surrounding him, poking out of almost every corner he could see. Trapped, that’s what he was. He could feel his calmness drifting away as panic climbed his spine and his body began to shake in fear. Not one to give up easily, he placed the edge of his right paw over his chest and counted his heartbeats, following the fast rhythm while also imagining a slower version in his head, causing his actual heartbeat to slow along with it, a technique he’d learned from Kiri near the beginning of his training. He still remembered what his master had said as he’d taught both him and his sister that. “No matter what happens, stay calm. Only a calm mind will lead to to success in danger, follow other emotions and you will be lead astray.” Those words seemed clear at the time, but what did they really mean? Staying calm seemed impossible in the situation he was in! To make the situation even worse, he noticed a slow movement ripple along the green walls that contained him. They were closing!

The deadly and very sharp teeth tightened around him from every direction. If he wasn’t panicking before, he definitely was now. He swung his blade around frantically several times into the walls with all the force he could bring, but his attempts were fruitless. Unlike before, where he had stabbed deeply with a clean stroke and caused real damage, the plant seemed as if it were thickly armored on the inside all of a sudden. A strange turn, but not one he had time to question. He swore the earlier injury had occurred at exactly the same spot he had swung at just now. He had to come up with a new plan fast, or let the spiky green walls seal his fate.

An idea came to mind. He closed his eyes and imagined a large spear, long and sharp to protect him, dangerous and robust to make sure it could keep doing so. As he finished with the visualization, something emerged from his paws. His freshly designed weapon stretched majestically as its blue light glowed bright. To his dismay, the spear stopped far too short to be the one from his mind. It hardly reached his own body height. “Not long enough!” he thought, and he focused his light harder to extend it further, but then he remembered Kiri’s warning. He couldn’t enhance his light to be any longer than it already was with normal efforts, and even if he somehow found a way to do so, the act would certainly kill him.

Out of light and out of ideas, Ori prepared for the worst. The wall of terror moved closer, its deadly teeth ready to crush their victim like an iron maiden. He couldn’t control his heartbeat any longer. His vision became blurry and shock spread throughout his body, manifesting itself as an unbearably painful stinging sensation. Was this really the end? He could feel the first tooth tickle his right ear with its peak. Shortly after, another reached his left leg, and the space left began to become too small for him as even more stinging pain shot through his nerves. There wasn’t anything left to do, and he closed his eyes as tears flowed freely from them. Time slowed as he was ready to live through his final moments in the greatest pain he would ever feel. It slowed too much for his liking, actually. He didn’t want to suffer any longer. All he wanted now was quick death, though it seemed like it would be much worse. His prayer wasn’t answered, and the process slowed even further. More irritated at the reluctance of the universe to give him even one grievance in the worst moments of his life than anything, he opened his eyes to see one of the greatest sights he had ever seen, letting out an astounded gasp as he recognized what it was.

The walls arrived at both ends of his spear…and stopped! No further could they move, the strength of the spear ensured that. Taking a deep breath, his pool of indescribable fear was flooded with a tidal wave of relief. The world had gifted him extra time to plan his escape.

Meanwhile, the plant was confused. Never before had it not been able to chew through its victim. Not many creatures were still fighting for survival by the point its latest one was, and it swam around frantically, unsure of what to do. Losing focus on its crushing maw, it opened ever so slightly. It was the luckiest thing Ori had ever had happen to him.

The walls of the plant separated further as the mouth opened, and the previous heavy tension on the spear was released. Acting fast, Ori stuck the spear forcefully into the tiny slit between him and freedom. With one push, he easily broke free.

Irritated, the plant sensed its once certain victim break free from its mouth. Again, it charged at its prey, but Ori was familiar with that kind of attack. All he needed to do was move a bit upwards, and it couldn’t catch him. One perfectly executed plan later, he was given the opportunity to land his most destructive hit yet.

Taking advantage of the situation, he quickly swirled about his axis and plunged the tip of his spear right into the origin of the plant’s tentacles with a shout. Focusing his energy, he felt the plant cease to be a living being right in front of him as its nerve core was severed from the rest of its body. It immediately stopped moving and became nothing more than a dead object, sinking down into the black abyss like the rest of the debris in the lake.

He made it. The plant was no more, and he was still alive. Panting under the water was an interesting experience, but he was more than happy to be able to breathe. He could feel the adrenaline shooting around his body begin to drain, set free in shivers as he relaxed after the harrowing ordeal.

Unfortunately, the peace didn’t last long. Just as he began to wonder exactly what to do next, he felt the water around him begin to fall. A soft suction was pulling the distorted water into an unknown hole that led even further down. It wasn’t long before he realized that the suction meant danger!

Ori pushed with his legs with all the strength he had remaining, but it was of no use. To his dismay, all his kicking seemed to do was barely slow his decent towards the pit. Pure desperation unlocked deeper reserves of strength, pushing harder, whimpering as it still wasn’t enough. All his struggles, and he was still to meet whatever lay in the pit below. His mind came up with twisted idea of what he might find down there. Was the pit an eternal black abyss from which he would fall forever, unable to escape? Was there an even bigger predator below, sucking its victims in for a typical meal? Would he even know?

Whatever it was, the vortex was dying to enlighten him with the answer soon enough. Despite his efforts, it was only a matter of seconds before he was sucked down into the unknown, quieting his screams of terror. As the water got tighter around his body, he closed his eyes and was forced into a deep, unconscious slumber.


	7. When eyes are useless

* * *

Prisons usually have several things in common with one another. They’re dark, unpleasant, difficult to escape, and oftentimes drag their detained into insanity. Mental prison is fairly similar, hence the term. Ori sat in his own now, seeing nothing but strange fading pictures on a pitch-black background as the incredible forces of water under pressure battered his already weakened body, flinging him about like leaves in a hurricane. He knew that he wasn’t awake, and yet nothing he did would shake him out of the trance that was blocking any attempts he made at movement. With nothing else to do, he thought about the terrible things that could happen to him any moment now as the shivers ran down his spine like ghosts. Needless to say, it wasn’t an enjoyable experience.

After a few minutes of that sad existence, Ori was ripped from his catatonic state as his ears awoke with a terrible stabbing sensation. The water had cleared away and been replaced by cold, rushing air, beating his ears with tiny pinprick needles. The feeling quickly spread throughout his body, first with his chest, then his legs, and finally his tail. At first he was unsure of why the water had left him, but with his eyes open and his faint bluish light illuminating the cascading water next to him, he began to scream and flail. He was falling! His cries were quickly drowned by even more water, slamming into his belly with a loud clap and rushing the air out of his lungs with even more pain. Defeated, he sank to the bottom, rendered motionless by the laws of physics. After an unknowable amount of time at the bottom of the water, he recovered enough to sit up. Almost immediately, he began to cough violently, an odd experience when done underwater, and it felt as though his stomach was trying to empty itself. To prevent vomiting he clenched his fist slightly and placed it on his mouth. It would be a mistake to throw away his only source of energy right now.

Ori had almost forgotten what still water felt like after suction forces from earlier, and he was grateful for the freedom of movement it granted him. Most specifically, he was grateful for the ability to swim for the surface and leave the terrible thing behind. Although he could breathe underwater, he still gasped upon surfacing; real air was much nicer to breathe. It was wet and fresh, cool and clean, and a welcome present for his exhausted lungs. He had taken breathing for granted before this new adventure, and it felt great to smell the oxygen in the air, filled with the fragrances of wet stones and water vapor. It was nice to smell anything at all again, because while his nose may have been functional underwater, his sense of smell only worked above the shoreline.

The feeling of relaxation didn’t last long, instead being replaced by a growing feeling of unnerving dread as Ori realized that he was trapped down here. One look at the waterfall was enough to know that escape through it would be impossible, not to mention the experience of being flung about earlier pushing that conclusion even harder. It looked creepy in the soft light reflecting off of the splashing drops. Anxiety began to build within the spirit. All he wanted to do was go home, and it was so very far away now. Exploring the abyss wasn’t just a typical mistake, it was the worst blunder he had ever made. How should he hope to get out now? Was there even a way out? Why even did he come down here in the first place? The silence of the cave provided many questions and no answers. There was nobody to help him now.

The feeling of dread continued to build, until Ori could hold it back no longer. He couldn’t withstand the fierce consequences of his initially benign actions and tears began to flow down his glowing cheeks. At first, he tried to resist the urge to cry and instead keep focused, but his melting heart overwhelmed him with strong emotions manifesting themselves as a flood from his eyes. All his attempts at keeping his focus were put down mercilessly, and he sank to the ground and covered his face with his paws. He was all alone, so completely lost within the dank caves.

Eventually, his feelings began to subside. It took several attempts, but he was able to recover from his breakdown and wipe his eyes clean. The water in his fur began to evaporate into the cold air, further cooling his wet arms. His shivering breath echoed off the walls of the cave, being the only sound other than the splashing water behind him. Hoping against hope, he looked around for anything that might help him decide on what to do, but the cave offered nothing of the sort. Only blackness awaited him ahead. How was he going to find a way out if he couldn’t even see? Maybe it would be better to stay near the waterfall, where he was safe. Maybe something terrible waited for him in the darkness!

Calm. He had to stay calm, avoid the negative thoughts flowing relentlessly through his head. They were nothing but clouds; he had to remember that. Just a painting for him to look at, consider its meaning, and then loose interest in as something new came along. Ignore them, yes, that was what he had to do. Finally claiming a fragment of courage to call his own, he adjusted his strength to focus on his other senses if sight would be useless to him. He held out his right arm to allow his light to stretch out as far as possible and allow him to use what little sight the cave allowed. It may not have helped much, but it gave him a source of safety to confide in. Slowly, he began to put one hoof in front of the other, and repeat. All that he heard now was the distinct and constant rumble of the waterfall, accompanied by the drops of water dripping from the walls and the occasional thud of a falling stone.

Lacking from that bank of sounds was any hint of something lurking in the darkness. The sounds of the cave were soothing, and he began to calm down enough to hold a steady posture. His steps increased in speed until he reached normal walking speed. Even though he was literally tapping through the dark, he couldn’t find any reason to be afraid. His paranoid glances for signs of danger stopped, and his head focused towards his invisible destination. He had found a way into the cave, and so he would find a way out.

…

He couldn’t tell when it started, but a very quiet whisper had been bothering him for a while now. It slowly got louder and clearer, until it wasn’t just an indeterminate whisper anymore, but a whole group of voices blathering on in a language Ori didn’t understand. They became more sinister and came from more directions as he moved forward, eventually coming from every possible direction. Maybe he wasn’t quite as alone down here as he originally thought.

Suddenly, a thundering step began to bounce off the walls in a fast, aggressive rhythm. It was moving directly toward him! He couldn’t see the creature making the noise, but it got closer with every passing second. It was enough to draw the poor spirits terrified scream as the crashing reached a crescendo when the most loathsome, disturbing face of the most despicable form of creature he had ever seen appeared. Only a fraction of a second after its appearance did it open its horrible mouth and lunge toward his face, and… passed right through him?

“What…,” Ori stammered, “what was that?” He began to shiver uncontrollably again, the almost unbearable fear from before reaching new heights as it drove its ice-cold fangs into his back. The horrifying whispers became shouts of anger that hammered through his skull. His heart began to beat faster, pumping his blood through his body in a way he was all too familiar with. He could actually hear the distinct noises the flowing liquid made as it shot through his throat. Now he was regretting leaving the waterfall at all, but he had made his bed. He had to continue on this terrible path, the choice was not his to make anymore.

Still though, if it was a fight the path wanted, it was a fight it would get. Quickly, he summoned his blade in paws and assumed his usual fighting stance, or at least as closely as he could while his legs shook frantically in anxiety. “C… c… come out! Where… where are you?” Again, the voices replied in a language he didn’t understand. Was it even a real language? The sounds came from all around him, and he began to swing his weapon aimlessly in hopes of hitting something in the unknown darkness. Unfortunately for him, he made the worst mistake he could have possibly made while flailing about. He turned around.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Directly behind him, on the path he had just traveled seconds ago lay a massive rock wall, blocking any hopes he still had of returning the way he came. With small, timid steps, he closed the distance between him and the wall, and he poked it with the tip of his sword.

The wall shattered into thousands of tiny, razor-sharp splinters, all flying directly toward the terrified spirit. Ori screamed in terror and tripped backwards, falling onto his back and sure of his imminent laceration. Yet, as he braced for the pain, he felt nothing. Nothing, no rock, no deadly splinters, not a single piece of anything from the explosion that definitely should have killed him caused any pain at all. Ori’s fright only heightened when he realized, “That… wasn’t real!”

As if the ghosts weren’t enough already, now he couldn’t even tell reality from illusion down here in this black hell. Was the whole thing even real, or was his mind just sadistically torturing him until he broke? “Please stop! None of you are real!” he whimpered as tears blinded him even further. None of the voices stopped at his accusation, their tones still increasing in volume and anger to a level not normally possible without special unnatural circumstances, which unfortunately was how the ghosts could be described perfectly. Ori’s blade vanished as his focus died completely, unable to muster the strength to keep his light in balance. Now he was on the verge of crying again.

“Please…,” he begged, “just leave me alone.” His emotional state died completely, and he curled on the ground, pulling his tail in while shivering in terror. “Father… where are you now?” He was pulling at all the straws here, but he was most likely too far away from the force of the Spirit Tree to receive help. Whatever the reason, he didn’t get an answer. “I’m… so alone.” The last of his strength faded as the cursed whispers ate through his brain like acid, slowly destroying what remained of his mind.

Even in the pure blackness of the cave, he still saw things. Deep in the shadows lurked thousands of spiders, all waiting for their prey to finally give up the last of his will to live. They were getting tired of their game, however, and with a very slow pace they crept closer to end it. Ori no longer had even the strength to scream, all he could do was watch as the revolting creatures crawled along his face, their long legs itching terribly.

Suddenly, the scene changed. He lay on a soft meadow the color of juicy green herbs as the grass nestled his fur. He watched from afar as his mother Naru played with other spirit children that he had never seen. They laughed and jumped through the field together, simply enjoying themselves. The scene changed again, replacing the children with a single child in the blink of an eye. The child looked oddly familiar, as if it were a younger version of himself. Together with Naru, they built something. A bridge?

A soft, warm light shattered his illusions and drew him back to reality. It gently moved closer to the ball of shivering spirit, making a very quiet beat with its wings as it did so. Slowly, his fear melted away as the ghostly terrors dissipated. He sat up from his curled position, watching his rescuer close the distance. As it came nearer, Ori’s sight became clearer, and the new entrant’s body became more defined. It was a firefly.

Ori wasn’t sure whether to trust such a miraculous turn of events. Was the firefly as fake as everything else here, or was there really a savior in this horrible cave? There was only one way to find out, and he hesitantly reached out to touch the insect. “Are you… real?” he asked the firefly. He braced for the magical shards to appear any moment now, but the firefly didn’t burst. Finally, he made contact with the wings of the potential apparition, and ensured its authenticity with a tingle on his finger. The firefly was real, he was saved! Astounded by the rapid changes in his luck over the course of only one day, Ori barely noticed the other change in his environment. The voices, the whispering, the spiders. They were all gone, scattered like mist to the wind. The miasma that clouded his mind followed with them, clearing his thoughts enough to grasp more complex topics again. His light began to shine brightly once again, his ecstatic face a beam to cut through the darkness once more. His words wielded even more power, and he couldn’t contain his gratitude. “Thank you, thank you, thank you little friend! I don’t know what would have befallen me if you hadn’t shown up.”

If the firefly was capable of feeling emotion, it didn’t show it. However, its light was far more attuned to lighting caves than Ori’s was, and illuminated almost five whole steps of ground for Ori to watch, far more than his measly one. Plus, even if it hovered like an automaton, the company it provided was greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, while the firefly’s presence was an advantage in that it let him see farther, that didn’t mean everything it revealed was necessarily good. Unpleasant silhouettes of monsters resembling a cross between a bat and a spider lined the ceiling; thousands of them covering the black stones like a blanket. Most disturbingly, however, was how all of them were turned towards him, frozen still like statues guarding a crypt.

It was quiet, but the dark energy coming from these silent sentinels resonated throughout every fiber of Ori’s body. He felt that all too familiar tingling in his belly, rummaging though his insides like it was. He summoned his blade forth once more and prepared for an attack. Nothing moved, but the tension in the room built further as both sides waited for the other to make a move.

The monsters moved first. Their bodies contorted in a disgusting way, with their heads sinking into their bodies. It was as if they had all woken up simultaneously, as if they weren’t before. Ori braced for impact, expecting one of the creatures to launch themselves at him any moment now. Seconds passed in an unpleasant silence before, all of a sudden, a group of the bat spiders closest to the spirit began to fire large glowing projectiles at him. The projectiles were slow, so Ori had no problems dodging side to side to avoid the pain that they would probably cause on a hit. The little firefly simply hovered, not a participant in this fight.

With that first volley, the monsters invigorated the rest with a rallying cry of dark energy bursts. Thousands of the fiends began to fire at him, their projectiles barely missing him and covering the floor in a deadly purple aura. While their attack may have been ineffective, the suppressing aspect of their fire prevented Ori from landing a hit. They were too high to reach with his sword, and jumping into the crowd would only end the fight faster. Why hadn’t he bothered with ranged weaponry? It would have been useful to have, at the very least, a mild projectile attack at his disposal. Better yet, why hadn’t he taken Aria with him? She could have made short work of the creatures with her bow. Ori diverted a small deal of focus to ponder his own poor decisions, and that was all it took for a single projectile to strike him on his right leg, shooting a burning pain throughout his entire body. He wasn’t going to withstand another shot like that, he needed to escape now! But as soon as he reached his decision, he tripped and fell. Something was pinning his right leg to the ground, it felt like he had almost torn it off! Turning to remedy the problem, his breath stopped. Encasing his leg was a sticky net holding it down with a mighty force. The evil monsters were trying to catch him!

This was no time for distractions! He had to act quickly. He shortened his blade into a knife and cut through the net. With his leg free, he began to run for his life. The firefly followed him calmly, the stellar opposite of Ori’s hurried, adrenaline-filled manner. His brain went into autopilot, guiding him through the shortest path through the tunnel. He didn’t even feel his hooves connecting with the ground anymore, everything that wasn’t a projectile was phased out, unimportant. The creatures were everywhere, awaiting their victim’s passing along their path of death.

Unfortunately for him, his chosen path of escape was filled with obstacles, and he could barely see. A rock there that caused him to stumble as he jumped it at the last second, a puddle here that almost tripped him, a patch of smooth stone that he slid over wildly. His breath came in ragged gasps as his lungs pumped the cold air of the cave in. His exhausted muscles ached from working overtime the whole day without rest. The adrenaline coursing through his veins masked all of these distractions and more, reducing them to a simple drop in an ocean of fear. The only real concern he had was when two of the creatures actually did launch themselves at him, landing right in front of him to block his path. He didn’t even stop running as he slashed at them with his sword, bisecting them instantly. Not content with leaving the spirit alive, the cave threw larger obstacles in his path, namely giant boulders that blocked the entire bottom half of the cave off. Not a problem for such a mobile creature as himself, Ori kicked off the floor, jumping off rock after rock in order to reach the top. As he pushed off the final rock, his left hoof slipped on the wet stone and he tumbled from the small mountain, landing hard on the floor with a cry.

One of the projectiles took advantage of the situation, aimed directly at his face. He got up like lightning and swung his sword with all the force he could muster, slicing the ball in half before it could reach him. He tried his best to climb the boulders again, but his hooves simply weren’t made for the soaked stone, and slipped away with every step he tried to take. It was pointless.

Panic crawled along his spine with a shiver. If he couldn’t climb the rocks, where was he supposed to go? Small whimpers of horror began to go hand in hand with his shallow breaths. There had to be another way!

His eyes darted around, looking for anything he might use to escape. Wait, was that—“There!” he shouted. A small opening lay between the rocks. He had completely overlooked it in his panic, and it was just big enough to fit him!

Not a second to waste, he squeezed through the opening, his little tail getting in just as another projectile collided with the entrance, sealing it with thick threads of sticky net. The cacophony of sound outside was cut off, and he was gifted a few seconds of calm silence to recover from the intense chase as he crawled through the rocks. The race wasn’t over yet, however, and his chasers were still searching for him, even though they couldn’t reach him currently. Soon enough, they would find another way like he did, so he had to keep moving.

The tight crevice widened out in front of him, leading the way out of the rock forest. He squeezed through to a small ledge a single boulder’s height above the floor of the cave. He dropped down and continued running, stealth not even being a mere consideration. As soon as he did so, the monsters realized that their prey was vulnerable again and charged him with tremendous speed, shooting their projectiles all the while. His options dwindling yet again, he soon noticed his journey was going to end one way or another very soon. The soft light of the firefly wasn’t showing any ground in front of him. Once again, there was an abyss!

With one look behind him, his choice was made for him. His chasers still followed him with fervent hunger, refusing to rest until they caught him. He was theirs for the taking, their meal, their prey. There was no hope of remaining on this level of the caverns alive, so he took a leap of faith into the unknown black.

What a terrible idea! There was no limit on what could be down there waiting for him. Deadly spikes, hungry predators, it could be anything!

All those possibilities rushed through his head as he screamed the whole way down. The fall felt like forever, though in reality it only took a couple seconds. He landed with a loud splash in ice-cold water, the best possible outcome he could have hoped for. He sank deeper down, but the pool wasn’t too deep, and he was able to watch the surface above him. His chasers had no such luck, though. They weren’t able to swim and follow him, and their projectiles didn’t pierce the water. With an aggravated screech, they sat defeated for a short while, and soon left him completely alone in the silence. Finally, he was safe.

He closed his eyes, letting his fear and stress leech off into the water. He had never felt so alive before, nothing from before today even compared. A thought ran through his head as he thought over his situation. “Everything wants to catch and eat me… why?” He thought he knew the answer. Could it be because he was so small that every creature decided he was fair game? It was kind of insulting. After all, he wasn’t helpless; he could defend himself if need be. What really was driven home though was just how valuable the hard training Kiri had put them through was. It really had been worth all the effort. Not to mention the great training he gave himself when he taught himself how to breathe underwater. “I wonder if every spirit can learn how,” he thought. Time was no longer of the essence, and he used it to calm himself down to a more rational state again. He felt the constant, but calming rumble of water flowing through his long ears, the cold hugging him tight, and his own breath and heartbeat slowing to more reasonable levels.

After his calming session with the water, he was able to think clearly again. It was time to swim up to the surface and look around for a path forward. His only friend down here was already there waiting for him. The water did cling to his fur after he stepped out, but he violently shook himself to get most of the water out. The firefly calmly waited for the spirit to dry, ever silent, and prepared for the next step.

Now that he wasn’t in any danger, he could carefully observe the walls to find a path forward. He made a confused face as he did this, as they were surrounded by tall stony walls from virtually all ends, and the cold water numbing his senses gave him a kind of ethereal feel, like he wasn’t really there. He voiced his thoughts aloud to the firefly, “How should we continue?” At this, the firefly seemed as if it had discovered something. Curious how it did that, with it being basically motionless and all. Its light illuminated a few charred wooden sticks, blackened with ash. “Hey, you found something!” he said in euphoria. It was somewhere to start at least. “At least we aren’t alone down here.” Ori glanced around the fire pit, looking for anything that might have revealed where its creator went. His eyes widened in excitement as he saw a book lying in the sand. It was made of a strange material he couldn’t even begin to explain. Certainly, however, he knew that only a Gorlek could create something like this. Unlike most books, the book in front of him didn’t even have a cover. It wasn’t even closed completely, it simply laid flat on the ground with its pages facing down. There was only one thing that could have meant. “The person who last had this must’ve been in a hurry,” Ori stated. “I wonder what it’s about…”

Carefully, as to not damage the book, he flipped the book over to see the pages. It was written from a first-person perspective. Some of the pages were missing, but what remained was more than enough for Ori to be able to tell that the author was writing about their own experiences.

It was a journal.


	8. Only one way

* * *

_These creatures are even more fascinating than I expected… I think I’m getting close now, I can smell the sweet fragrance of wisdom emanating not far from here…_

_I found sketches engraved in stone. They must be older than at least a whole generation of moki. Not only did they live in the forest, they had their very own isolated realm that was impervious to any danger. But that only leaves more questions than it answers. What caused the sudden collapse? Why would they abandon such a sacred place? I seem to be the only one who cares, so I had to fulfill my scholar’s duty by going deeper into this monster-infested cave. Fortunately, I know how to make a fire, so these disgusting critters won’t dare come closer…_

_Those pictures weren’t going to log themselves. I made it my task to copy them for future reference, they were the first pieces of sizable evidence I’ve had so far._

The page ended somewhat prematurely, filled with notes and scribbles below the main written sections. Most of them were crossed out, and an arrow pointed towards the side of the page labeled, “Good version!” Ori turned the page and was amazed by the quality of the artwork before him. Then he realized what it was, and he forgot any admiration of the artwork to marvel at what it depicted. A spirit guardian, designed to look much like himself, stared back towards him with judging eyes. In the picture, the spirit was holding a round fruit up in their right paw, as if presenting it to him. Ori felt his stomach growl at the tasty appearance as he realized he’d spent far more time down here than he’d thought. Down here, time had no meaning. The only sort of log he had for it was his ever-increasing hunger gnawing at him.

“The author was researching my kind. I guess he must’ve been here recently.” The spirit’s voice echoed quietly along the stony walls of the cave. It was hard to believe that the person who authored the journal knew more about his species than he did himself. “I wonder how he would have reacted upon seeing me, had we met?” asked Ori, more to hear a voice he understood than anything. Excited to see as to what else the document had to offer, he turned the page and continued reading. The book had sparked a growing thirst for knowledge from deep within him.

_I can hardly contain my enthusiasm as the cave promises deeper insights into the spirits. Everyone knows their purpose, they protect the forest as extensions of the Spirit Tree’s influence. But where did they originate? Ever since I was a child, I’ve been a firm believer that nothing happens just because it could, everything needs to come from somewhere. So, where does their light come from? The earliest knowledge comes from legends of a heroic spirit that sacrificed himself to save Niwen from certain doom by becoming the current Spirit Tree, but even those are clouded in a sense of mystery. Does that mean they only exist to act as a kind of seed? How could someone be so determined to creating new trees that they give up their life in order to do it? The only answers I could come up with suggest that the spirits don’t have any real feelings, and only care that the cycle of the forest continues. Worse yet, I can’t even confirm that the legend has any basis in reality at all, because I wasn’t there to observe the event. No archaeologist could possibly rely on such a myth and consider it truth without any evidence. I’ll need to find my own sources._

_It took years, but my investigation is finally pouring light on a possible lead. I’m sure that the spirits did exist for at least a short period of time in history. After all, I already had one big piece of evidence for the validity of the legends, the obvious and even organic example that is the Spirit Tree itself. I don’t know quite what the sphere on its top should represent, but I’m certain that it has some essential properties for the forces of light that the tree controls. Exactly what properties they are, I’m uncertain. It’s possible that nobody knows anymore, and the knowledge was lost with the spirits forever. Perhaps they even communicate directly with the tree, which would explain much of their history and motives. If only I could have even a fleeting conversation with one. Who knows? Everything’s possible down here…_

Ori flipped another page. Numerous scribbles aside, the author seemed to be quite scholarly in their approach to the investigation. The various errors in logic were humorous to read, at least.

_I’ve now been down here for more than ten days. It has been continually frustrating to crawl through the unforgiving darkness and disperse these nasty critters without finding anything more than the occasional engraved sketch or small knickknack that reveals nothing I don’t already know. Worse yet, the darkness is slowly eating away at my mind, decaying my most important faculty down here. I reckon that moki were never made to go without sunlight for this long. Yes, we do live in the more shady places throughout the forest, but pure darkness for ten days is tough on the soul. At least, it is on mine._

_I’ve decided to make this place a temporary home. I have a fire pit, something to eat, and of course, my journal, the only “person” I can really talk with… I guess I’m not completely alone down here, but I am feeling somewhat lonely…_

_Finally, I’ve found something! It looks like some kind of gate leading into an ancient temple. I’m positive_ _that this was built by the spirits. They must have godlike powers to create something like this. I have to get in! Hopefully I’ll find more answers inside._

The next page was torn from the spine, seemingly done in a hasty manner. “A temple? Down here?” Ori asked the air as if the author sat right next to him. “I’ll have to see that! Of all the parts that could have been ripped off, why did it have to be the most important one?” He closed the book in his paws and readied himself to continue on his way out of the cave. “Maybe the earlier entries in the journal can guide me out of here…” His voice mumbled off towards the end as he realized that he had nothing to carry the book in. “I really should have taken a bag with me…”

Ori was still looking for something to act as an emergency satchel when suddenly, the diary began to glow a bright blue. The confused spirit watched the book shine brighter and brighter with an astounded look on his face. The light began to get so bright it almost hurt to look at, and he was debating on whether he needed to drop it and run when the book vanished. “Uhh… What just happened?” stuttered Ori, even more confused now. His only hint on finding a way out was gone. “Where,” he asked, “is the book?”

The blue light came back, this time his paws glowing as if he were trying to summon his sword. His eyes widened in astonishment as the book slowly materialized right in his own paws, eventually dropping into them and resuming its previous form. A quick inspection revealed no signs that the book had ever been touched at all. He still couldn’t believe it. He didn’t need a bag, he had his own magical storage room!

There was only one conclusion to make. “I’m a wizard!” he shouted happily. His demeanor became the happiest it had been in the whole time he had been traversing the cave. With a laugh, it was time to continue on his way, his motivation to investigate invigorated by the incredible discovery. “Well then, let’s find that temple!”

He didn’t need the journal’s guidance immediately, as there was only one path forward through the darkness. It was quiet, and all the cavern life seemed to have been left behind him with the bats. The peaceful atmosphere, combined with the consistent drops of water falling from the ceiling and the fast, leaping strides he took made for a calming, almost enjoyable experience. Soon, he knew, he would find the entrance to the temple, and everything would be okay.  
  
The trip was short, and he entered a cavernous room lined with ancient engravings of spirits in various poses. A huge stone door sealed the entrance between him and the inside of the temple; he had finally arrived at a place in the caves that he liked. “We did it!” said the spirit in excitement. He had already gotten used to talking to his new silent friend, it made him feel better, more connected to the glowing being and the author by simultaneously addressing the diary. “But how are we meant to get in?” The diary was his only clue, and he summoned it forth to consult for advice. “Maybe the book can tell us more. Let’s see here…”  
  
 _There must be a way in. I’ve looked for any hints detailing on how to get inside, but the spirits didn’t make it easy for me. This must be some sort of trial, something that you had to pass to be allowed to enter their private realm. Surely, they’ve hidden away a hint somewhere. Maybe the engravings are a form of riddle?_  
  
“Ah, of course. The drawings.” Ori found himself more and more pleased with the author as the journal went on, it was just so helpful! To either side of the gate stood a spirit guardian holding a small flame in their paws. Both sides also pointed towards a small path going off in their respective directions, with one spirit proudly clutching a torch close to themselves standing above the passageways.  
  
“Torches?” the spirit asked himself. The information didn’t seem helpful, and he didn’t know what to do with it until he took a closer look at the engravings and discovered gold-plated brackets on either side of the torches. “Oh, I see. I have to search for these torches and put them into the brackets,” he assessed. “I guess I’ll probably have to explore both sides. Let’s try… left.”  
  
Only a short way down the passage did the firefly illuminate some kind of stone bridge. It looked like it had remained in place for millennia, but Ori wasn’t sure. He turned his head to look for another way forward, but the unsafe-looking bricks seemed to be the only path he was presented with. And while the masonry was questionable, his investigation revealed that the entire thing was supported by some extremely thin ropes hanging from the ceiling, with absolutely no support from the sides or underneath. They didn’t look like they’d hold his weight, even with him as light as he was. “Maybe the author found another way?” he asked. He must have, there was no way he was stupid enough to trust those shoddy ropes. He quickly took out the journal again, driving over the lines with his finger till he reached where he’d left off.

_I came to a stony bridge hanging from the cave’s ceiling. It had to have been abandoned ages ago, the rope didn’t look very stable. I would rather avoid learning what awaited me in the abyss below, but I had to cross it to find that torch, so I had to try at the very minimum…_

_Yes! I made it across the bridge, and it didn’t collapse underneath me. Now it’s back to the quest to find that torch. I know it’s somewhere nearby, I can feel it. I can almost taste the sweet victory hiding around the corner._

While his kind soul prevented him from feeling anything like frustration at the author, the fear that there really were no other options was stronger as to even it up. He had already been afraid of that outcome, and to be told that there really was only one way to cross the bridge killed a lot of his exploratory dreams. Still though, he had to cross the pit. “So that’s really all there is to it, then? Just cross the bridge? I actually need to trust my fate to these thin ropes?” He turned his head back to the way he had came. “I don’t have a choice, do I? There’s simply no other way.” With the edge of his right paw placed over his heart, he slowly raised his left hoof and gently placed it on the first brick of the bridge. Surprisingly, it did feel stable. No cracks, no shaking, no wacky shenanigans to suggest he was standing on anything but solid ground. His paw could definitely feel the tension in his heart as it beat through another marathon, but he began to put his other hoof right beside the other. Now his life was truly up to this untrustworthy bridge’s suspension. He could look over the edge if he wanted, it didn’t matter as there was only a gaping black void below. There didn’t seem to be a bottom at all. His light didn’t reach much further than the end of the bridge, and it certainly couldn’t illuminate even the walls of the pit. Instead, he tried to control his breath as to not hyperventilate and pass out from the dread squeezing his lungs.

He carefully walked along the middle of the bridge, placing one hoof after the other with utmost caution. All of his sense were fully active as his dread locked his full attention on the bridge in front of him. He was almost at the middle, almost halfway across the very tongue of damnation itself. Expecting a sudden change to come at any moment, his ears stood straight up, fearing any change to the unmoving environment. His mind was already torn to shreds during the previous terrors of today, but this terrible uncertainty was far worse. His hooves were rubbing along a path that he didn’t even know to be stable enough to hold him. What should he do if it collapsed?

A sudden rip cut through the silence, that up until now had only been disturbed by his shuffling hooves. A poisoned arrow shot through his heart, and he feared the worst. One glance above him, and he knew he was right. Dread almost paralyzed him, but panic overtook it and he managed to move his body with lighting speed. His legs ran to the other side as quickly as they could. It really wasn’t that far now, he could make it. He had to! But with every step he took, the thin, devilish ropes straight from hell itself seemed as if they were trying to seal his fate and loosened more and more from the shaking bridge while also torturing him with their horrific ripping sounds. He could only hear how they let go of the bridge beneath him, trying to doom him to fall. Seconds passed quicker than they ever had before. The stone lost more stability with every beat of his heart. He was so close now, only a couple more steps to safety when the floor broke in front of him, and he bent his legs to jump.

The jump came too late. The unforgiving stones dragged his weight down with them almost maliciously, it was as if he wanted to leap over a wall. He simply couldn’t jump high enough. As he fell, only one word whizzed through his mind. “Why?” He left his right paw outstretched to the edge he should have grabbed, reaching for the last string of fading hope he couldn’t possibly reach. The void wasn’t going to be kind to him today, and with a dread-filled face soaked in sorrow, he fell deep into the unknown void, screaming, his cries slowly going silent as the endless abyss devoured him.

…

_Darkness. An empty room, filled with naught but unpleasant dread. His hooves played a constant beat on the wet floor beneath them as he moved forward._

Where was he going? Every direction, every corner, every kind of thing to look at or in gave the same glassy black visage as the rest. He was unsure of the kind of magical force that drove him further, but he didn’t question it anymore.

A voice called out to him. It was a very familiar voice, the voice of his family. Naru and Gumo were calling out to him!  
  
His steps increased in speed, they became faster and faster as he stretched out his right paw to reach for his goal, the direction of their kind voices. There they were, waiting for him, spreading their arms wide in preparation for a wonderful hug. Tears of joy streamed behind him, sinking down his warm fur with love.  
  
It was all a trick. Suddenly, something terribly hard grasped his shoulders, claws with no origin violently tore him from his family. He let out a squeak of confusion, why was this happening? His family was right there in front of him! But now they winked with their ever calm, kind faces as their son was pulled further and further away. His right paw, still outstretched, began to cramp painfully. The sight of his family became plain as a picture hanging from the wall, and shattered into thousands of tiny shards that flew directly toward the spirit. Before they could reach him, the rest of his body began to cramp and feel as though it were made of wood. His paw hurt the most, right before it became a dark, gnarly brown and hardened completely as the infection spread along his body. His sight began to fade and the world around him darkened, surely a symptom of the spreading death. Before the brown could cover his face forever, a voice he was sure he had never heard before spoke.

“It is time, Ori.”


	9. Predator

* * *

Breathe. The cold, damp air of the cave rushed through his lungs as they slowly expanded and contracted. He was awake, but confirming that was difficult. His eyes were open, yes, but the void was all there was to see. And yet, he felt something underneath him, supporting him. He was alive, but how? The void was a fall to certain death, landing on a hard stone floor at terminal velocity was not going to be a survivable incident, especially when unconscious and unprepared. Something had saved him, something soft, like an elastic blanket. It was lined along his whole back, covering his spine all the way up to his head.  
  
He took a moment to calm down and organize his thoughts a bit. Someone evidently wanted him to survive the fall. Perhaps it was the author of the journal himself? Did he already know that someone was trying to follow him? Whoever it was, he needed to find out. “Hey! Who’s out there, where are you?” Ori trailed off as he realized that something was missing. The firefly was gone! It must have lost him when he fell. Again, he was doomed to be alone in this cave. “Come back!” he cried. “It’s so dark down here!” There was no answer. Only the constant rumblings of the cave showed to comment. “No, no, no! This can’t be…” Like before, tears of loneliness began to fill his eyes, but he wasn’t going to be taken by emotions now. He had to be strong right now, he only had himself to rely on. “I’ll have to find him!” he exclaimed, determined to see light again. He tried to get up, but his tired body refused his orders to move. Was it really so late? He would normally be sleeping now, as after all, it was the middle of the night. Or wait, could a new day have started already? What time was it anyway? There was no way to trace the flow of time down here.  
  
It was a little confusing, however. He’d been far more tired than he was now, Kiri’s training had pushed him beyond limits he’d never even knew he had. Currently, his muscles weren’t even weak, so why wouldn’t they get up?

Oh.

Panic rushed through his chest like a ghost, he was sticking to the floor beneath him! The elastic material wasn’t a soft blanket or mattress, it was a gigantic web! His breath became shallow, his heart banged against his rib cage, and the panic shot through his head like lightning. It got worse when he turned his head to look below him, the web was spun over a massive sea of deadly thorns. It was spun almost directly above them, preventing him from cutting himself free if he didn’t want to end up impaled. Even if he could avoid direct contact, he wouldn’t be able to crawl on the underside of the net, there just wasn’t enough space between it and the spikes.  
  
But what other options were there? His attempts to struggle out and run across the top were fruitless, there was no way he would be strong enough to tear through the sticky rope. To make matters worse, his worst worries were confirmed when he heard a distant hiss and the web began to shake underneath him with the footfalls of a crawling creature. A very, very large crawling creature. He could torture himself endlessly with mental images of the predator coming towards him, ready for its next meal. Time was already a sensitive subject, and soon it would reach and devour him whole. He just couldn’t let that happen! He wasn’t anyone’s prey!  
  
What other options did he have? Struggle only made his situation worse. He tried to calm down, that was the only way he would possibly escape. While he may be stuck along his back, he could move his right arm. It simply rubbed right across the sticky net… no, it wasn’t actually sticky there. Only the area directly underneath his body was caught, the rest of the web was most likely structural and used for getting around rather than capturing prey. That had to be useful information! Now, what could he do to take advantage of that? There was only one viable option left.  
  
He focused his light, concentrating on finding a fitting picture. It had to be something useful to him immediately, and trapped in the web like he was, it was going to need to be able to pull him out. Options and shapes disappeared from his view until there was only one remaining. A rope, of course! Ori would have slapped his forehead in the new obviousness of the solution had he had the time to do so, but a mild groan had to suffice for now. He stretched his arm to the ceiling, his paw parallel to its rough surface. Instantaneously, something very long emerged from his paw with a flash of brilliant blue. It shot high into the unknown and stopped abruptly with a sharp clanging of ringing metal. A quick tug with his other paw ensured that it was a firm connection, more than enough to hold his light weight. He may as well have been hitched to somewhere on that stony ceiling.  
  
Now that he had something to hold on to, he wasn’t going to fall into the spikes below. Not wasting a moment, he summoned his blade to his paws with bluish lightning and swung the weapon as hard as he could. It worked! Almost too well, actually. The net lost its tension and weakly sank down into the spikes, large sections of it collapsing as it couldn’t hold onto the stony walls anymore.

The little spirit had to hold his tail high to avoid the sharp spikes. It was particularly invigorating and fear-inducing when he turned his head down to see that his backside wasn’t even a full inch above his doom. However, the net finally fell loose from his body and he launched into the air at tremendous speed, the rope pulling him upwards with a great deal of force. He held his breath, startled by the wrenching sensation and setting his belly tingling with the rate of his accent, but everything went by too quickly for him to even think about what was happening. Within the blink of an eye, he had hit the ceiling, right where a glowing blue plant had taken its place. Reflexively, he clung to its stamen and narrowed his eyes, having expected the worst only seconds ago.

It took a moment to get used to the light again, but as he carefully opened his eyes, he could behold the timeless abyss watch him back. An odd new position, he hung from the ceiling like a spider ready to drop on its prey. It was a great vantage point, and looking around, he saw a whole ocean of these blue plants illuminating the ceiling with their soft bluish light. The sight was beautiful, a glimpse of hope between the danger and fear the cave had in abundance. It was enough to cast a small smile across his face.

Alas, the moment was not to last. Something terrible tore the silence apart with a piercingly loud screech from deeper down. Ori dared to look, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw a pair of two yellowish glowing orbs staring right back at him, shining with an evil aura. “Are those… eyes?” he asked the air in a shivering voice, as if there were someone else to hear him. The darkness made it hard to determine exactly what they were, but they began to move upwards along a wall while being accompanied by a strange crawling noise that sent a wave of nausea through his body. Then, they… no, it came closer.

A frantic search in every direction started, he needed to find somewhere to hide. Unfortunately, it was too dark to make out anything, and he was forced to move from his spot. His heart beat violently as he tried to maneuver around the ceiling, clinging at these blue flowers. Every new grip hurt as his paws cramped in dread. Thank the Spirit Tree these leaves were strong enough to support him! Yet as he continued, the yellow orbs that signified his doom were closing in, and he moved way too slowly to keep out of their reach forever. While they may both have been able to climb walls, the skill level they had in doing so differentiated drastically. What now? “I’ll have to try it again!” he thought. His instincts fought violently against these kinds of suicidal thoughts, and he hesitated to let go of the plants, but there was nothing else he could do. With a massive effort, his will forced his paws away from their weak string of safety and he began to fall. Immediately, he tried to re-imagine that picture from earlier, and this time it happened almost automatically. The soft glowing rope shot forth from his paws and clung to one of the flowers, rapidly dragging him forward. Right before he hit the plant, he let go and shot another rope to hook onto another plant, beginning his supple swinging through the cave. His crazy plan was working! Swinging through the cave was far faster than the creature’s scuttling behind him, and his hunter let loose an aggressive hiss as it noticed its prey edging closer to escaping its fangs.

There! A small opening in the side of the walls of the cave, it had to be his best chance. So far, it was the only way out of this room. The only problem was how the sea of blue flowers ended prematurely, leaving a gap between their edge and the opening. The only way across would be with a much larger swing than he had been using to reach the edge. He shifted his weight forward with all the strength he could offer, his choice had already been made for him. The familiar tingling came back along with the incredible speeds the swing had, and when he was sure to reach the edge, he let go. The entire world seemed to slow down as his heart thundered through the air.

The wind blowing past his face stopped abruptly as he landed with a quiet thud on his hooves. While he may have gotten out of the web room, the chase wasn’t over yet. The being behind him was able to climb even slippery walls without assistance, and it would cross that gap very quickly indeed. He was so certain of this that he didn’t even bother to look behind him as he ran off into the unknown labyrinth. Definitely a mild oversight on his part, his method of escape only lead him further into the realm of evil.

Glowing in the dark was both a curse and a blessing down here. On one hand, he could see where he was going without having to bring a light, but on the other hand, every creature down here could easily spot him with even mediocre vision. It was trivial for anything else to find him down here, and the hunter was no exception. It wasn’t long until he heard the terrible thin legs crawling down the corridors behind him. A bolt of shock shot through his body and he tried to increase his pace even further, but being faster than the predator didn’t help at all when he was faced with a dead end. The labyrinth was unforgiving, and there was no way back; the hunter was too close and blocked the only path left to him, trapping him in a corner. When it was certain that its prey was completely unable to flee, it froze, preparing for the fight. Only its hissing breath could be heard, but it was enough to start his whole body shivering. Now he could see what that creature was.

A spider, three times bigger than he was and proud owner of eight yellowish glowing eyes as well as two terrible long fangs sprouting down the middle of its maw. Each of its legs was peaked with a razor-sharp blade that reflected the spirit’s light, flawlessly sharpened and ready to eviscerate at the lightest touch. His conscious mind could feel his right paw summon his blade automatically and his knees assume a defensive stance. Every limb, every organ, every tiny hair atop his skin knew that there was no other way around, this was another fight to the death.

As soon as the predator realized that its prey was ready to the fight, it let out a squeaky, ear-piercing scream and hissed sharply as a tactic to frighten the little spirit, causing him to shiver even more in dread. It had done this a thousand times before, it was ready and knew all the tricks. However, Ori didn’t let his fear distract him. This would be the worst time to become unfocused, death was certain if he couldn’t think clearly during this encounter. The spider reassessed its opponent, pleased to be fighting more of a challenge than its usual meals. It was going to enjoy this. Suddenly, it gave a short hiss and lunged towards the prepared spirit. He already knew what to do, and he reflexively rolled to the side in an effective dodge, just like Kiri had taught him. The spider smashed into the wall behind him, and it presented an opportunity to deliver a strike to the side. The scenario wasn’t perfect, though, and at least one of the spider’s eight eyes saw his blade driving forward, because one of its eight blades stood right in its path, deflecting the sword with a loud clink and shooting sparks of light in all directions. The parry was followed up with a push against his arms, opening the spirit’s posture. Another blade on a different leg zoomed in at the same moment, but he managed to jump backwards right before it hit him and landed painfully on his back. His mobility was great, however, and he ignored the pain to roll back up to meet another forceful swing coming at him. It hit his sword with such a weight that his arms were flung to the side, and he quickly made up his mind to not attempt to block any further swings. The spider was so much stronger than him, and each of its attacks was ever more impossible to block than the last. He was forced to back off and jump behind with every swing of his opponent, never having an opportunity to strike back with a swing of his own. His breath came in shallow and rapid gasps as he desperately tried to get a decent parry on just one of the incredibly powerful attacks, but each attempt either missed entirely or ended with a loud clink and a flash of light. He simply had no chance against this level of strength with his standard techniques.

If he wasn’t going to score a hit in the usual way, he needed an alternative. He looked around his environment, trying to find anything that may shift the balance in his favor. All he could find was that the room was awfully tiny for his opponent, while he was more than small enough to fit comfortably. It was an advantage he had to use, but how? He planned for his counterattack as he tried another hopeless swing and roll, positioning himself just out of the spider’s radius. One of its legs hissed through the area he just at with a deep humming noise and such force that the ground shook almost as much as his heart did. Yet it was an opportunity! It hissed angrily with its miss and bent its eight nasty legs for a lunging strike. Now! While the spider leaped in a mad final strike towards the spirit, he jumped into the air at the last second and avoided the attack entirely, letting his opponent smash into the stony wall behind him for a second time. He used the extra time he was given to land on the back of the spider and run his sword along its abdomen with as much force as he could muster. It screamed in pain so loudly at this that his ears almost went numb.

Ori leaped back to the ground to examine his handiwork, most importantly to examine whether or not his attack had dealt any serious damage to his enemy. He immediately assumed a defensive stance upon hitting the ground to protect himself, but oddly enough, the spider didn’t move at all. It clearly wasn’t dead, however, and instead it began to emit a dark purple mist around its body while the chitin itself turned into the blackest color Ori had ever seen, darker than even the void he had fallen through to get here. He could sense how anxiety was slowly crawling back into his poor body, and there was nothing he could do about it. His mind went blank, wiped clean of any reasonable thoughts as the very incarnation of darkness itself slowly turned its head towards the terrified spirit. He could have peed himself in fear had he not already done so in the water before when the spider released its worst hiss yet, an aggressive “voice” that sounded as if it had been squeezed violently and chased through infinite suffering at the same time. Its eyes glimmered with a bright red glare, and every single one looked as though it were a ball of purest evil. What little left of Ori’s mind that remained in control screamed at him to not look into these holes of terror, and to run as fast as he could away from them. The cursed vision finally showed him the truth, the kind of vulnerable little prey animal he really was and marking his face with the essence of helplessness and dread while destroying any focus he had on keeping his weapon intact. All he could do was act as if a mighty rope had pulled him, dashing off as fast as he could in whatever direction he was facing. No matter if it were the right way out of this hell or not, all he wanted to do was escape!

He zoomed through the caverns as fast as he could, all while hearing every nasty step the spider took. He didn’t dare look back, the orbs would be the end of him if he did. His breath had gotten even heavier as his heart shot burning blood throughout his body. Luckily for him, something lost its support in the shallow ceiling and smashed to the ground right behind him and right before the spider, cutting off the pathway between them and making it impossible for the spider to reach its prey. One boulder did land on his vulnerable tail, and he let out a brief scream of pain as a result, but his chaser was blocked. For now.

Finally, a moment of respite. His eyes darted from side to side, scanning for possible ways to continue, maybe even allow logic to find a way out of this cavern. He could still hear the horrible steps of his chaser echoing through the darkness, and it probably knew its own nest perfectly, so it was only a matter of time until it found him. Only one way appeared in front of him, though. He began to run again, but as soon as he did so, he heard a hiss come from a distance, followed by very fast steps that were getting louder! His hooves were too loud against this stone floor; the spider could hear its prey running for its life. The horrible steps came closer and closer as he ran. There! Another corner revealed itself in front of him. He lowered himself and tried to move as silently as he could to that spot. The fight against his instinct to run away was intense, but he eventually made it to the corner. Just as he did, a very loud thud from very close by echoed off the walls of the cave, followed by a hungry hiss. His fear pushed him flat against the wall in a desperate attempt to hide. “Oh dear father… I never should have come down here!” he whispered to himself in a shivering tone. Every disgusting step terrified him more than the last while the creature searched for its prey. All he could do was hold his breath to prevent any sound coming from him as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Silence.

His violently narrowed eyes carefully opened again. He looked to the left. Then he looked to the right. Nothing. His head slowly moved back to the middle and, of course, beheld the terrible black face of that spider, now hissing loudly and hungrily jumping towards him in a finishing move. There was nothing he could do. It was too late to roll away, his fate was sealed. “What a terrible destiny,” he thought with his last moments alive. He let out his last scream of fear at impending death.

But nothing actually happened. Was he already dead and his mind was just playing terrible games with him in the end? Was that even a thing that happened? The ear-shattering appearance of the black monster violently pulled him back to reality as it zoomed towards him with incredible speed. As it got close, it began to rapidly spin its legs in a circular motion, transforming itself into a giant saw blade. Ori couldn’t trust his eyes, it couldn’t possibly get worse than this! His mind worked quickly this time, the only way left out was to run. However, after only a few meters he had to stop again. The black abyss of the first room gaped before him, blocking any hope of going forward. The spider stopped spinning and bent its legs again. He knew what it was trying to do, this was his last chance! He couldn’t roll to the side like usual, instead he had to use that perfect moment while it was in the air to dodge its blades. The spider lunged directly at him, and he attempted his plan. A roll forward, dodging through the spiny fence of blades, and he found himself right behind its legs. The spider hadn’t expected that turn, and it had no chance to try again. It fell down, down, down as its sharp legs tried to find support on the edge and failed with a deafening scratch, finally ending with a violent squelching, piercing noise as the spider fell into the black abyss. Ori wished he had covered his ears as to not hear the cruel fate the spider had to suffer, but as it was, the sound was burned into his mind forever.

Uncountable heartbeats passed by as he sensed his breath slowly normalize and his nervous wreck of a body calm down again. Finally, he could focus on his real task: finding that torch and bringing it to the entrance. How should he continue? With the spider out of the way, his real foe was still present. The darkness hounded him at every turn, and it hadn’t stopped just because he’d killed a spider. He slowly edged over the cliff into the abyss and dared a look down, but the only thing he could sense was the cold yawning coming from the blackness beneath him, providing absolutely no way forward.

Suddenly, a light erupted from the pit, shining so bright that it almost blinded him. But unlike almost everything else so far, this light was warm and comfortable, the complete opposite of what a dark evil pit should produce. Something deep within his mind whispered that he wouldn’t have to draw his blade, so he stood still and watched the light rise from the abyss and stop directly in front of him. For some reason, the light invoked a sense of reverence as it got closer, until that feeling reached a crescendo when the light began to talk to him.

“Brave child. Don’t be afraid, I won’t try to hurt you,” spoke the light. Its voice echoed very softly off the walls of the cavern and found its way deep into Ori’s soul. “You’ve freed my spirit from that empty, hollow body. Once, I served the spirits as a loyal guardian of their sacred temple. That was ages ago, and I lost my purpose when my beloved spirits vanished. While I aimlessly wandered my cave for many years, something evil disturbed my mind, and I was powerless against it. It began to slowly devour my soul, slowly robbing me of my will. I became a monster, hunting any prey that was unfortunate enough to find its way into my lair.”

The light made a long pause, like it was searching for what to say next. “But then, salvation. You came and freed me from that evil curse. I thought the age of spirits had ended forever, gone with no hope of return, but you, little one, gave me hope.” The light began to shine brighter, expanding with every passing second. “Now, let me illuminate your path forward. Open the gate to the temple and restore what once was, what was taken away from your kind.” Suddenly, the cave filled with a soft light extending outward from the core, chasing the darkness away from every corner, eradicating it from even the smallest crevices. The feeling when it hit Ori was cold but comfortable as it ran down his spine and up his tail, filling him with a new sense of purpose and dedication. He beheld the true beauty of hope illuminate right in front of his eyes. “I will leave you now… Don’t let darkness befall you, little spirit.” With that, the light faded away and left a bluish glowing stick with a bright flame at its end hovering mid-air. It hovered directly into his tender paws and only then did he realize what he was looking at. His eyes widened, it was the torch he was looking for all along.

Much unlike before, with the light spreading throughout the cave, it now seemed calm and peaceful. No dangerous monsters lurked around every corner, even the thorns at the bottom drew back from whence they came. Plants began to glow in a soft tone as they grew into lush, leafy versions of their former selves, illuminating the once cold and stony walls. Ori couldn’t take his eyes off the magic unfolding in front of him, it was basically everything he had ever wanted from this cave. It was like every evil creature he’d ran past, every glimpse of the darkness that threatened his sanity, every deadly trap he had pushed through had simply faded away. As he marveled at the sights before him, he noticed a new path that hadn’t been there before. It was a path consisting of pure light, leading all the way to where the gate was in an impossible fashion that was evidently the result of powerful magic. When he tested the surface with one of his hooves, it was as solid as stone. It even emitted a slight magical ring when he touched it, like his steps conducted a chorus of instruments.

The path took him all the way to the gate without incident, and he attached the torch to the left side. It began to glow brighter, casting a strange pattern on the marble surfaces. A bright light shot across from the other side of the room, the torch had summoned its counterpart, already slotted into place. Then, the great door opened in a majestic manner, welcoming the little spirit into its home. He didn’t know what awaited him inside the temple, but he took a deep breath and passed through the gate, resolving to finally determine what lay at the heart of this infernal cavern.


	10. First Steps into the Sacredness

* * *

Scratching stone is a marvelous sound. It invokes wonder and mystery in even the most plain of people, and never more so than when its coming from an enormous stone gate slowly revealing its treasures. This particular stone gate was opening a path into an abandoned, ancient temple for a small spirit with a great deal of curiosity, causing a tremor to shake the walls of the underground cavern it was in. One could only hear it opening, for the cavern had no natural light sources, and would have been completely black had it not been for the soft light of the aforementioned curious spirit entering through the immense doors. He ran his paws over the blank marble tile lining the hallway, feeling its cold surface as the first being in eons to do so. Every one of his senses was sharpened and attentive, his eyes vaulting in every direction as he watched for dangerous traps or creatures lurking in the darkness, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to finally overwhelm the little spirit right has he had finally triumphed. His long, fine ears pricked up to listen for any signs of distress as he squinted to see through the darkness, making various pauses and changes in his gait to avoid masking the sounds of approaching beasts. All that, and yet it seemed as though there was nothing sneaking about. He couldn’t hear anything other than his own hollow steps and his nervous, shallow breaths as his chest rose up and down.

Before him lay a long corridor with indecipherable drawings adorning every corner. The hallway yawned deeply into the complex, with its ceiling stretching almost ten times higher than Ori himself. To his surprise, golden light fell down from cracks high in the roof and lit the walls and floor more than strongly enough to see. He strolled through the passageway whilst taking a curious interest in the odd drawings, but no amount of squinting allowed him to make heads or tails of what they represented. Some of the pictures seemed to have sections designed to be pressed, but even as he ran over them with his paw, there were no revelations to be made. Slowly, his interest in the artwork drifted away until he ultimately lost it entirely, completely focused on the pathway forward. Not long after that, he found himself in a central lobby filled with magnificent enameled staircases leading upwards to all sorts of separate rooms. Unfortunately, they had long since fallen into ruin, most likely having been destroyed by whatever event had wrecked this once peaceful place. Plants, able to survive in even the most desolate conditions, twirled above and entwined around the broken masonry, seemingly trying to take back what had once belonged to them. Ori felt his jaw slowly fall as his eyes drove over the incredible scene, it was the most impressive thing he had ever seen. His eyes eventually came to rest on the second level above the stairs, deciding that was the most likely direction to find an exit, or at least something interesting, he wasn’t really sure what he was searching for. The staircases were out of the question, though. “Maybe I can climb these rough walls,” he mouthed to himself silently, not wanting to break the reverent silence of the temple. Indeed, the walls were mottled with enough holes and pecks that his hooves wouldn’t slip off like they did on the smoother stone from earlier. It was worth a try, at the very least. He threw himself at the wall with a bound, shoving his paws into it with force. While he was able to cling for a short time, he just didn’t have the claws to climb higher and got stuck. Shortly thereafter, he lost his balance and gravity mercilessly yanked him down again, his paws grating the whole way down.

“Foolish.” he thought. “This was a stupid thought. There’s no way I was ever going to be able to climb this,” he chastised. He could scale trees easily, but blank walls like this were never even remotely possible. He was just about to kick himself further over it when noises rang out from one of the shadowy corners on the first level, spiking his senses into overdrive again. The sounds resembled a band of skittering insects, and they were getting louder. With a single motion, Ori summoned his blade and directed its peak towards the origin of the sounds. There wasn’t any room left for incompetence today, and his ears spun around like a radar dish, scanning the airwaves for details on the incoming threat. Vision wasn’t left behind, and his eyes narrowed into a far-sighted squint, becoming clearer with every step he heard. Making out silhouettes in the darkness was difficult, but there were certainly many of them.

“Show your faces!” Ori shouted confidently. Nothing changed about the silhouettes’ movement, but they did finally reach the light shining through the central room. Bugs. Only about half as tall as himself, but their sharp fangs and razor-thin legs more than compensating for their small size. They scuttled towards him fearlessly, as if his light were a magnet to them.

Ori watched every move carefully, prepared for an attack that could come at any second. He was right to do so, as not long after he had assumed his stance did one of the creatures jump backwards and zoom forwards to race its claws through the air, the strike barely missing Ori’s skin by hair lengths. He didn’t even have time to react to the next attempt, one of the other bugs had done exactly the same thing from the side. Claws raked through his left arm and elicited a short cry of pain, but he couldn’t focus on that for too long. Another bug leaped at him from the right, but his sword was already there. It cast a spiritual blue trail through the air behind it as it cored the bug right down the middle with a hiss, killing it instantly. There was only one direction left he hadn’t been attacked from, and he jumped through the air with a flip to distance himself from his group of attackers. Now he could see how many of them there were. Three bloodthirsty bugs slowly crawled towards him, their fourth member lying in pieces behind them. He swung his sword in circles, loosening his arm for combat with a distraction technique to confuse the beasts. It was to no avail, the bugs didn’t show any signs of confusion or even mild distraction. Perhaps they were too smart to confuse, or, more likely, too dumb to comprehend more than one thing at a time. Their actions were probably driven by either by an unquenchable blood-lust or basal instinctual drives.  
  
When they got too close for his liking, he unleashed his assault. His blade tore through the air, splitting it apart in a lightning-fast path right through his opponents. One hit. Two hits? No, not even a single one of the swings had connected, the closest it getting being light taps on the edges of the bugs’ fangs. All of them had jumped backwards immediately at the first sign of movement, as if it were programmed into them. Much like before, they shot forward with vengeance, and an unprepared Ori met with furious, burning shocks of pain as every claw hit its intended target. His belly, his chest, his left arm again, all covered in new lacerations that spilled fresh, brightly-glowing spirit blood to the stony floor. When it was separated from its host, its light faded and it swiftly turned a dark red color, lifeless and dead. The poor little spirit whined in pain and clutched at his new wounds, trying to stop the bleeding. The injuries weren’t much on the surface, but they hurt with a blazing fury.  
  
The bugs weren’t kind enough to give him pause. They weren’t dazzled by the radiant blood at all, even though a few drops of the stuff had landed right on their faces. Without waiting for any movement from Ori, they leapt backward again. The little spirit knew what was coming next, and also knew he needed to prevent any extra pain at all costs. They gave him only one second to react in their speedy attack, but Ori was fast too. He demonstrated his skill by deftly rolling to the side and letting all the bugs’ attacks crash through nothing but air. Since his previous stance hadn’t worked, he changed to a new one and held his blade as lowly as his arms could hang. It was a completely relaxed pose, though no pose he could hold would relieve the horrible pain from earlier. Then, he contracted all his muscles at once, as if a pile of sand had hardened into stone. He didn’t dare turn away from his opponents, he wasn’t sure if he would withstand another hit. The last thing he wanted was to get hurt even more than he already was, and his heart began to race as the bugs determined their next move. His body did the opposite, standing still as a statue and prepared for anything that they might try.

Time slowed to a crawl as he held himself still. Finally, the bugs got over their confusion and turned to him in a near-simultaneous movement. They then moved closer to the tensed-up spirit holding his blade tightly in his paws. Ori didn’t think about attacking them, that had only went poorly before. Instead, he decided to observe every one of their motions, looking for a flaw in their strategy. They came closer and closer and… There! The bugs jumped back, regardless of whatever Ori was doing. Shortly afterwards, they flew forward with the same tremendous speed as before, but now the little spirit was prepared. He waited until one of them was just about to reach him before swinging his blade, letting it rip through the air and guts of the monster in an almost unnatural fashion. A clean cut drew right through the center of its belly, dropping it to the ground silently. With only two left, he positioned himself right between them, so that they would lunge at him from both the right and left sides. Just as their preparations finished, he spun around his own axis with his arm outstretched and his blade hissing through the air, yelling a high-pitched warrior cry and slicing the bugs to pieces.

Silence. While standing still and masterfully observing the battlefield without moving a muscle, he took many deep breaths, trying to find his own center. Again, the edge of his right paw was laid on his undulating chest.

As the colossal flood of adrenaline slowly petered out and his body calmed down, he was able to sense his own nerves again. His paws immediately flew to his wounds. The shiny bleeding stopped, but nothing he did relieved the terrible aching feeling coming from the deep scratches. Glowing tears escaped his big eyes and rolled down his cheeks as he tried several times to wish away the pain. High-pitched whines came freely from his little larynx for a short while before sobbing hiccups overwhelmed him like an ocean wave. He moved his right arm to his face to carefully wipe the tears constantly flowing from his eyes away, being very careful to not stretch any of his cuts. His whole body shivered in pain and exhaustion.

And there he would have remained, had a small hole not caught his attention. The bugs had revealed a tiny gap when they had broken free from the walls, and it seemed to lead somewhere.

A cold wind brushed his sensitive skin as he entered the new passageway. The darkened void before him quietly howled with both the cavern’s winds and the distant crashes of falling stones, striking the ground with enough force to shake his fine ears. It was like a step into an entirely different place. One look at the broken ceiling above him, and he knew it had been a one-way trip. Only a few rays of the shiny golden light managed to make their way into the cave, but they eventually were dispersed into the tiniest particles in the darkness, illuminating nothing. Again, he was left with naught but his own light to rely on in the accursed darkness. He whipped out his sword, prepared for any extra surprises hiding behind the rocks surrounding him. Every step he took was light as a feather and cautious as those of a quarry. Yet the cave still seemed quite empty and dead. The ceiling above him rose ever higher with every breath he took, stretching to new heights that opened the room even further. Out of nowhere, a drop of water fell on the tip of his nose and he looked up with a start. His large, still glassy eyes reflected the blue light from another flower, the same type he’d seen in the spider den from earlier. Only a few inches away from the flower was another hole leading back into the temple, as evidenced by the golden light strewing through the entrance. From there, it wasn’t hard to realize what he needed to do next. The strong rope flashed out from his paws again, firing off to his new target. The forceful pull set off a familiar tingle in his belly, and he timed the jump off the string just right, allowing him to grab on to the ledge with his paws perfectly. A quick push, and his legs gracefully followed over the edge in a singular limber movement. Such skill usually would please him, but the only applause he would get today was the bolts of pain shooting through his fresh wounds. It was enough to force him to narrow his eyes again and another weepy moan escaped his little mouth. The scratches still felt like they were on fire, and he hated to be so powerless about it. The feeling of being incapable of helping himself was almost worse than the pain itself, but he had no other choice but to endure his suffering.

Again, he stood in the great concourse where he had fought the wicked bugs, but this time he was on the second floor. The balcony looked even bigger now that he was standing on it, as he was able to look over the magnificence of the entire room from its height. A massive gallery of various pictures orbited the entire path, depicting all sorts of scenes in their untranslatable languages. The ceiling was even better, incredible paintings all coming together to a helix in the center. Even in the dilapidated state the temple was in, Ori could perfectly imagine how it had looked before. “This must’ve been a really majestic place,” he whispered to himself humbly, taking in the masterful gracefulness of the architecture in a way he hadn’t been able to from the ground. “Simply stunning… I wouldn’t know where to start on imagining such pieces…” One piece of art in particular caught his eye, and he stopped to carefully brush off the sand and dust obscuring the masterpiece. “How did they”—he paused to brush off a hardier chunk of dirt— “ever even get it on the walls without paint? Wait, there’s more…” He wiped off an even larger surface, having to blow to reach the very top. The remaining tears in his eyes fell out as his eyes widened. “This looks like—” His monologue was interrupted as some of the particles of dust fell into his nose, causing him to sneeze and follow up with a mild coughing attack. One sniff and a couple rubs over his face with his right arm later, he dedicated himself back to the picture again. “This looks like,” he started again, “like father. Somebody drew father.”


	11. The Core I

* * *

Another wide corner angled around a room that may or may not have been there, stretching further down into the temple's heart. While Ori could appreciate the artisans who had built the stunning pieces throughout the temple, the architects didn't quite get the same respect in his mind. They must have been insane, many of the hallways and rooms were laid out in positions that just seemed… wrong, somehow. He almost pitied the head architect, what must he have felt after looking at the layout for this thing? Arcane building codes aside, the temple's artwork had really taken a beating down this hallway. Even had Ori been trained in how to appreciate the meaning behind these paintings, the cracks and dust would have prevented him from identifying even the most basic of their intentions. Not like that was his desire anyway, he wasn't even halfway around the infernal corner when his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor, letting his backside drop to the ground. After so long in the cave systems without food or water, he really needed a break. His strength was fading, and he let his breath slow while he let his muscles shut down for a short moment. Tonight had surprised him with all sorts of situations, be they terrifying, exhilarating, and above all, exhausting. Never before had he felt so challenged by fate. Almost every second he spent down here required his full attention and strength, lest he be punished for even a slight lapse in judgment. It was if he had signed up for a tough exam that he needed to pass; that test being one on how long such a little spirit as him could endure the constant pressure, anxiety, and pain until he were to finally give up.

He recalled the engravings he'd seen earlier in the main room of the temple. Most importantly, the engraving was one of his father, growing in the middle and watching over the land as he always did. However, it was the second figure he was concerned about. A smaller figure resembling a spirit stood in the middle. It had hooves, long ears, hand-like paws, the whole package. Perhaps it was the break he was taking, but while he sat there, he racked his brain for everything he could relate to that picture, any connections he could find to make sense of it. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about that picture really called to him, and he felt like he should know what it was doing there. There was one small detail that seemed more important than its size would suggest, its possible meanings crawling like a snake through his mind: what was the small bauble it was holding in its paws?

"Ugh… I'm so thirsty…" Ori sighed, his throat screaming for fresh water. It felt like someone had replaced the walls of his throat with sandpaper, the whole thing scratched like freshly-sawn wood. His body's needs superimposed themselves over any of the intellectual questions from earlier; the engravings wouldn't matter if he were dead. He reluctantly finished with his break and got up again, sitting here would do him no good. He knew that if he gave in to sleep here, it wasn't likely that he would ever wake up again. Besides, looking back at the left side of the corner he had come by as he had entered by, there was still only one path forward. Because of the temple's damaged state, certain paths were blocked off with boulders or various kinds of plant tendrils; other paths, like the one he had just come through, had sharp cliffs that made for one-way travel. To really hammer home how desolate the temple was, he couldn't even feel the light presence of his father he always felt when he was alone on the surface down here. It was like a pitch-black cloud had covered the sun, and he knew that he was on his own down here.

Continuing along the path with his achingly slow steps, his mind began to wander with various ways he might find water at the end of the tunnel. Even if his chances of survival were low, it was never a bad idea to keep the optimistic side of himself ready to give him encouragement. By now, it was really the only incentive he had to continue walking. Yet, even as he walked down the halls, a small part of himself, a tiny fiber deep within his body wanted nothing more than to turn around and explore the temple's secrets further, like he had left something undiscovered back there. What force could possibly have been strong enough to decimate such a large and durable structure? Why would the owner of such force ever want to destroy the temple in the first place? That thread of himself simply had to know.

Finally, with legs shivering from exhaustion and every step taking more effort than the last, he finally approached the end of the corridor. A decorated door with golden trim blocked the way forward, and his weak arms weren't able to push it even the width of his own fur, but some kind of button carved into a cube of stone almost as big as himself stood right next to the door. He'd never seen anything like this before, but something in his head clicked, and he knew he had to push it into the wall. With both his arms braced on the button's blank surface, he closed his eyes and prepared for the force he needed to exert. One push later with what little strength he could offer, the door indeed began to raise from the tile and revealed a golden light shining from underneath.

That would be too easy for his luck today. A loud rumble came from above the door, becoming louder and louder until, suddenly, the ceiling caved in with an ear-numbing crash and a cloud of dust. The frightened spirit jumped back just in time, one of the boulders barely missing him.

"Hahh… Hahh…" Ori huffed through the haze of dust. The chaos raised by the destruction of the door spiked his breath and began to drain through the last of his reserves. The doorway itself was now barely recognizable underneath the hundreds of pounds of debris that had crushed it. Ori stood in a deep stance, expecting the damage to spread throughout the ceiling any second now. His eyes widened, his breath quieted to a shallow hum, his blood raced… but nothing happened. Not a single rumble disturbed the structure, no boulders smashed into the ground, the silence resumed. He almost turned around, expecting the way to the room to be closed entirely now, but a soft golden ray coming from a tiny gap at the top of the pile struck him in the eye as he was turning. It was just barely wide enough for him to fit through.

Squeezing his head through the rocks was difficult, but the sight beyond was worth it. Before him stood a monumental hall with walls made of the finest polished marble and adorned with pristine examples of art, golden mosaics and pictures depicting all sorts of situations. There were so many intertwining with each other that it was hard to tell where one picture started and ended, they just flowed into each other despite obviously showing different scenes. Most impressive though were the statues of various spirits paving the sides of the straight path like buildings along an avenue. Each spirit looked as if it were custom-made, none of them sharing even mild signs of lazy construction. One had long ears hanging past his neck supporting a head wider than his shoulders, while another had a thick coiled tail and smaller paws. Yet another had a very serious expression, as if he were lecturing the beholder on the secrets of the universe, while his counterpart had a happy visage that was hard not to mimic upon seeing it. Every one of them without exception was covered head to tail in golden patterns winding over their bodies and giving them a very regal appearance. Ori had to blink several times just to confirm some of the finer details, moved to reverence and fascination as he humbly observed the statues from every angle.

One of the statues was striking, however. The center-most spirit towered above the others, demanding attention. It had even more distinct golden patterns that were unique to it, but most impressive was the enormous sphere made of pure crystal it held in its outstretched paws. Ori couldn't even imagine how much mineral wealth someone would need to build that, the rest of the temple's treasures combined probably wouldn't match it in cost. He approached the statue, locking eyes with it. It was almost frightening, but simultaneously awe-inspiring enough to fill his heart with hope and joy. He reached out with his little paw for the statue's right leg, as it was the only surface he could reach. Just as his paw made contact, a magical sound rang out from the crystal sphere with a bright flash, the sphere getting brighter and brighter as it shone in a warm, comforting orange tone. The light expanded in a perfectly regular sphere until it enshrouded the little spirit, who knelt in a show of complete reverence.

Warmth and relief filled his body in a magnitude he had never felt before. It was like the light healed his soul from within, gifting him hope and letting his worldly problems and tensions melt away. A tear of pure joy rolled down his cheek; his smile beamed like the happiest being to have ever existed. He felt calmer, stronger, alive. The light continued to get stronger, his body glowing brighter and harder than ever before, until an it all coalesced into a small orange sphere sitting in his paws. Before he could get a good look at it, it dissolved through his skin like an ice cube, and the light it carried was absorbed into his belly with a soft orange flash. It must have been the key to something, because right as the process finished, a gigantic wall began to slide upwards to reveal a large pool of water, glowing in the same orange tone.

He jumped right in; the water attracted him like a magnet. "Finally, water!" he shouted excitedly. While he was no longer thirsty after the strange ordeal with the light, a source of water down here was a very welcome discovery. The water itself was salty and clung to his fur, but it was crystal clear, and he could see the water stretching off into darkness beyond. Despite the fun activity and all the warmth he was allowed to experience earlier, he felt an altogether different feeling making its way through his brain. A looming presence, terrible and indefinably huge crawled at the edges of his perception, sneaking through the blackness nearby. Ori could have described the feeling all day and not have gotten out what he meant, but a short version would start with that all too familiar tingle in his belly, and followed up with some sort of nausea combined with a heart attack while hanging upside-down.

Whatever the feeling, he quickly lost his interest in swimming. In fact, he felt as though discovering the rest of the temple's secrets could wait, the overwhelming flood of terror was the most important emotion to consider right now. The edges of his vision turning red, he flew down the shortest path as designated by panic to turn as quickly as possible and make his way to the surface. The ever-present gasp of air upon breaching the waves became the normal pace of his breathing as he flung himself out of the giant pool and began running before he was even fully standing. The hall of statues was a fairly straight line, and Ori took full advantage of that, bolting around the statues as his wet hooves slid on the tile. An onlooker now would see the first piece of his until now unfounded fear, but there was indeed something in the water he had just fled, something so big that it was unlikely that anything Ori's size would be able to fully comprehend its own. Ori stole a glance behind him, making sure that something wasn't about to attack him, and his face contorted in horror at the sight.

It was probably just the smallest part of the creature, the very forefront of its massive body, but an incredibly large round, monstrous head with serrated teeth sticking every which way, seen not just because they would stick out, but because the maw of the beast was wide open and ready to bite at its prey. Running even faster was not hard to do with such a galvanizing appearance behind him, so much so that he almost stumbled over his own leg in the resulting hurry. Luckily, he managed to keep his balance, or it would have been the end of him. The giant monster had no qualms with balance and plowed right through the statues, carrying them away with its massive body. Ear-numbing crashes vibrated through the hall as the stonework tumbled to the ground, far too loudly for Ori's sensitive hearing to really appreciate. All he knew was that the sound was loud enough to shake his whole body with its force alone, causing his ears to convulse and fold in on themselves to block the sound.

Arriving at the boulders he had so carefully squeezed through earlier, doubt began to build on his ability to do so again before the creature were to reach his position. Sheer panic was more than enough to get him to try, however, and he cleared the distance to the hole in a single bound, slipping through the crack in an adrenaline-fueled rush he would never be able to repeat. The forced crawl was still slower than he would have liked, however, and the massive creature was only a matter of seconds away from crashing through the wall and crushing him. As it was, he managed to get far enough away that when that happened, the easy demolition of the obstruction shot him across the temple with a forceful kick. He didn't know whether it was the adrenaline or the fact that his mind hadn't the time to become overcome with panic, and was still capable of thinking clearly, but whatever it was, he was able to angle himself into a roll and soften his landing. He did so well that the roll ended with him standing, so he never actually stopped moving forward. Clearing the temple's entrance was easy from there, and he ran down the path he had taken to get there as the gate crumbled behind him. It had only taken seconds for the building so recently recognizable as a temple to be rendered to nothing more than a pile of rubble; the giant beast hastening its decay into ruin with an effortless wriggling, moving as though it were a serpent. The chase went on through the dark, winding corners of the cave, Ori choosing directions at random as he sprinted through the disintegrating cavern.

Eventually, he arrived at the water pool he had dove into earlier to hide from the bat monsters, and no evident path forward. Fortunately, as he swam underneath a ledge overhanging the water, he discovered a small opening in the ceiling that he had missed the first time he was here, and he shoved himself through it, his tail just slipping through as the hunter behind him got there. The opening may have been just big enough for the spirit, but the monster behind him had a new problem. It had to ram its head against the rock, giving Ori valuable time to escape. He knew that he was way slower than the predator, but his instinctual self-preservation wasn't going to let him stop now. Even as the walls began to look as though they might cave in with him still in the water tunnel, even as his legs threatened to cramp with the strenuous movement they were being forced through, even as the roars and growls of his chaser rose to new heights, he stayed moving forward. He wouldn't die here, he simply couldn't!

Despite the challenges, the tunnel began to widen out, eventually forming into a clear exit. The darkness of the unforgiving cave receded from the edges of his vision, and the hope of finally returning to home was enough to cause him to struggle faster and faster as he ignored the cramping pain as well as he could. That was when the creature finally broke through, a muffled and very deep crash sending rumbles through the water and putting even more stress on his ears. Stones fell around through the water, and as he dodged them, he realized that he had no chance against the monster's speed. He whimpered in terror as he tried to go even faster, but this was already as fast as he could go! No! It couldn't reach him, it must not! He was almost at the surface now, and with a final push he pierced its surface, shooting out of it like an arrow of light.

Time slowed as he hovered there in the air. He was in the middle of an enormous lake, stretching over the horizon in most of the directions he could look in. The moon was nowhere to be seen in the darkened sky, signifying the oncoming rise of the sun. One direction did hold a parcel of land, the coast of Niwen, and that warm orange light of his father shining through the deep woods. Safety was so close! He stretched out his paw in the direction of hope and his future, longing to return, when suddenly, the cool air of the night disappeared. A thick and hot air enveloped him, and within a second the light from outside dissipated completely. Soon after, the rest of the world did too.

II  
What was that noise? The rumble of liquid in his ears was the first sign he wasn't dead. A very soft tingling covering his whole body came second, followed by feeling returning to his limbs. Kinesthetic sense told him that he hovered in an awkward fetal position, like he was an underdeveloped mammalian baby soaking in some kind of odd, soupy substance. The tingling was similar to the feeling he got when he meditated, the whole perception of his body, but also different somehow. More aggressive, more distinct, coming from outside rather than from within. Another sensation came along shortly thereafter, a burning aching that reminded him of his wounds from the encounter before with the creatures of darkness back in the temple. The sense danced along his sensitive nerves as it began to pulsate along with the rhythm of his heartbeats. A fourth feeling permeated his cognition as he realized the air he was breathing was… acidic, and tickled the walls of his respiratory tract.

"Did Kwolok swallow me?" he asked himself. "I thought that fight was over…" He shook his head violently, trying to jog his memory like he was awakening from a nightmare. "Wait… who's Kwolok? Better yet, where am I? What happened?" His mind spun up like the huge wheel of the mill back in the village, only moving much faster than any waterwheel could hope to move. The grey reality of it all came rushing back to him now. First and foremost, however, he knew that he needed to get out of whatever unknown liquid this was, and he swam to the surface. A very dark and empty room awaited him there, his bluish light highlighting the walls of the new place he found himself in. Far worse than any dark room, however, was the deep and muffled rumble of heartbeats that ruffled his sopping ears just as they freed themselves from the "water." The heart was obviously very large, the sounds it was making dug through his acoustics with an even deeper bass. Just to complete the experience, the air around him was incredibly thick, hot, and humid, almost like his head had never breached the liquid.

All those together would have been strange on their own, but together they lead to only one terrible conclusion. The tingling sensation got worse, erupting into a burning pain that seared his flesh with enough of a kick to cause him to hold his breath in shock. "No…" Only now did he put the pieces together as to where he was at. Just before he could say it aloud, he heard a distinct rumble echo through the cavernous room, very reminiscent of the gurgles his own stomach made when it was working, but far louder. "No, no, no, no, noo!" Fear gripped him with whimpers and shivers cast from pure horror while his eyes frantically searched the space for a way out. Meanwhile, his tirade of words hadn't ceased. "No, no, there has to be a way!" he panicked. Yet as he looked further with tears in his eyes and his lungs pumping shallow breaths of the sour air in and out, he knew that the cry amounted to nothing more than panic before the end. There was no way he would escape his fate by himself, and his struggles in the liquid would amount to nothing more than a smattering of noise before they too would end.

That's when they came, those hallucinations of a false hope. The voice of a person down here with him mumbling various unintelligible things that wouldn't mean anything. It almost sounded like the ghosts that had hounded his mind earlier, only clearer, more… alive.

"Wait, what was that noise? It's normally pretty quiet in here, I guess it must've caught something." Ah, yes, his mind had really lost it. Now it was making a perfect falsehood of some person who lived here. Or was it really all in his head? "What would shine so bright, and yet… struggles, and… whimpers?" the voice whispered to itself audibly, like there was someone else around to listen to it. A chill ran down his spine, reminding him of the rapidly depleting time he had left. Even if the voice was clearly a delusion, Ori couldn't help but follow it. It was the only source of hope left for him, even if it's source was the thick air he was constantly being forced to breathe.

"Wait… it's coming closer? In my direction? Am I finally losing it?" Great, now hallucinations were hallucinating, it couldn't get any worse. The voice wasn't finished yet, and it became louder. "Who's down there? You aren't a figment of my imagination, are you? If you're real, then quick, grab that rope over there if you want to live!"

That was enough reason for Ori. Something inside him awoke again, and he toiled with renewed frantic strength, harder than he already had been. It didn't matter if the voice wasn't real, or even if it was something bad, he needed to follow it. "So indeed it is real. Over here! You've almost got it!"

That rope hung in front of him like a beacon of life and hope. Was it even real? Could he really have gone insane that quickly, could a mind like his own ever go that far? Whatever the case, he clung to the rope with his still-cramped paws and crawled up while the unknown person above pulled him up. "And there… you are," grunted the voice with a final push of effort. It took a few seconds before it spoke again, taking that long to realize what type of being he had just fished out of the acid lake below. "Wait, you're a…" He had been completely focused on saving the poor little thing, entirely forgetting how it glowed with a soft bluish tone. "You're a spirit…" he finished, astonished. Ori, still soaked in putrid fluids, widened his eyes in disbelief. He felt the stony floor beneath his backside, confirming the reality of the situation. There really was a person down here with him, and that person had rescued him!

"You're… real," he said, finding it hard to think straight after the harrowing ordeal with the acid. His blurry vision began to clear, until he could make out a silhouette of a person in front of him, the contour of a moki. He wore a light brown and very pretty scarf twirled around his neck; the scarf hanging down past his waist as he bent down to better observe his unusual catch. "Of course I'm real! I'm perfectly as real as you, my friend." The moki noticed his new little companion's eyes drooping in exhaustion. He was just about to ask when Ori croaked, "I… I'm so thirsty…" At that, the moki instantly got up. "Hold on, I'll go get you something. But while I do that, you should clean yourself up. That terrible gunk will scar something fierce if you let it." And with that, he freed his neck from that handsome scarf and handed it over to Ori. Instantly, the little spirit protested at his kindness. "But, this is your scarf. Won't it be damaged?"

"Don't worry about that, little one. That scarf is tougher than I am, and I'd like to think I'm pretty brave." Protesting further would have been rude, and Ori really did need to clean himself. As he was tensing the scarf into a towel to clean himself, he saw another picture appear in his mind, but was far too tired and exhausted to question anything anymore. Conversational starter it was, though, and he simply told his rescuer about it. "You know, you remind me of someone. He called himself 'Mokk the Brave.'" He had to chuckle very slightly before he continued, "He was a funny person." The moki was puzzled for a second, but chalked it the spirit's weariness confusing his mental state. "Oh, interesting. Did he also investigate dangerous places like these?" Ori chuckled again, louder this time. "No, not this kind of place, but others. Like the cave of a giant wolf." His cute, high-pitched voice got increasingly weaker with every breath he took. "I see," said the moki, growing somewhat concerned about his new friend, began to rummage through a handmade bag that was barely visible in the darkness. After a short few moments, he pulled out a strange case that was obviously intended to storing water. An audible "plop" sound could be heard as he set it on the ground in front of Ori, the sound echoing through the massive and fleshy room. "Here you are. Drink up." Ori looked at the moki as if he was some kind of furry angel while he gratefully took his gift. He raised the canteen to his lips, and began to drink the water inside. After starting, he just couldn't stop, and he continued until the water was completely gone. He was satisfied for a moment until he realized that he had just drank all the water the moki had; the satisfaction instead being replaced by a feeling of immense guilt. "I'm… I'm so sorry, I drank all of your—" The moki cut him off. "Don't worry! Please don't worry, I've got enough for both of us, trust me." Ori's face softened; his light shining in pure happiness. "Thank you," was all he could say, a sigh of sweet relief washed the rest of the message away.

The little spirit's eyes rolled around to all the odd corners of the fleshy cave. Although he already knew the answer, he needed to confirm where he was. "Where are we?" he asked. "Why, in the belly of the beast, of course. I'm still not quite sure why we're able to breathe down here," replied the moki, letting his more inquisitive side show. "Indeed, that's a good question," Ori pondered, "but what I'm more curious about is how that building made it into its stomach, especially as so intact as it is." The moki sighed, deep in thought. "You're right. That's still thoroughly a mystery to us both, then. I'll tell you more about what I've found down here later, but first, you need to rest for a bit. You must be exhausted. Here, you can use my bag as a pillow. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but it's all I have anymore." Ori shook his head in denial. "No, you really don't have to apologize. You saved me, after all." The moki calmed a little at that. "I'm glad you're fine with such meager accommodations. Make yourself comfortable, and if you need to use the bathroom, there's a small spot between me and that wall over there. We are going to be here for a while." Ori had already rolled himself into a proper sleeping position, but he sat up again at that sentence. "You've been… living here? For how long?" The moki scratched his head in confusion, lost in his own thoughts. "I don't know, to be honest. Days? Weeks? …Months? I can't really tell anymore. I already looked for a way out, but there doesn't seem to be any such thing. The revelation was disappointing to the spirit, but fatigue was more important right now, and his arms sank down into the bag while his eyes slowly closed. For now, he would accept that there was no way to change their situation. For now. The moki, on the other hand, was very talkative. Now that he finally had someone to talk with, he found it difficult to stop. "You know, you had quite the weight for a spirit. I always assumed that you spirits were massless beings of pure energy and without any feelings, but you… you need to drink and eat just like any other being. You cried and struggled in fear down in the lake of acid, you've still got tears in your eyes… That's fascinating. Spirits have a similar organic anatomy to normal mammals. I'll need to inspect you more later. But first, I'll let you sleep." He played with his fingers while he talked in the restless way most moki did, and turned to the glowing little being he was so intrigued by. Ori's light slowly pulsated along with the rhythm of his breath pushing through his tiny nose. It was a bit blocked from the effort of escaping the giant monster and made slight noises as the air rushed in and out, but it didn't really matter to Ori. He had already entered the world of dreams as he willfully fell into a deep slumber.


	12. The Core II

* * *

"Something is wrong with Kwolok!" That sentence consumed his mind, though not to the same extent that the swampland's guardian had been taken in his corrupted state. Ori ran from his disturbed former friend in a desperate attempt to prevent a fight, his focus too determined on what he was doing to mull over anything past the moki's words. Kick! Jump! Twirl! The air howled though his ears as he zoomed past the obstacles with practiced finesse; the wild waters hardly slowing him down. Behind him, the tainted toad crashed though yet another wall. He may have been less agile than his quarry, but destroying everything in his path made for a much shorter route than was fair as he tried to catch the much smaller and more nimble ball of light. "Kwolok, this isn't you! Can you hear me? Kwolok!" Sorrow and desperation overtook his face, yet the skillful dodges still came. None of his actions were his own doing anymore, the words came out without him even thinking about it. He may as well have been watching the scene through a different set of eyes entirely.

Serrated teeth belonging to a large black creature smiled in his face, though not in a friendly way. The malice the smile held for him was emphasized when its owner's tongue smashed the ground right next to him as claws raked the stone with a splitting hiss. No mercy was to be shown today.

That was why it was surprising when the scenery changed. A rip in the fabric of reality sent him flying into a new one; the giant toad looking deep into his widened eyes. They widened further when the toad's eyes shone in a way even the spirit's didn't, like a fire had been lit just behind his eyelids. Despite the otherworldly and threatening description that would usually imply, the view was pleasant, so much so that it even kind of calmed the little spirit.

"Wake up, Ori."

"Kwolok?" The scared and now fully awake voice of a child reverberated along the walls of a blackened cave alongside the echoes of rumbling gurgles and a muffled heartbeat. There was only one source for the voice: a young spirit's mouth that had just opened in shock of its bearer's own dreams. He frantically looked around, not quite able to discern what had been a dream and what was real. As his vision cleared, he noticed something wasn't quite right. Something was missing. Someone.

That was unacceptable. Vertigo made his head swim after he kipped up, but that wasn't important right now. "Where…?" he asked the room, audibly but carefully. The waving world made it difficult to extend the sentence further. When no answer came, new worries began to replace the old. "It can't be," he thought, "the moki was right here just recently." Beneath him, the stony floor clapped against his hooves as they clattered along its surface during his search. It was the only irregular sound present, nothing but the constant ambiance of the environment made noise otherwise. "Scarf?" he called again, choosing the first thing that popped into his head about the moki. He should really have asked his rescuer's name. "S-scarf?" Loneliness and fear crept into his voice at the second cry, this should have all been over. He should have been rescued from the terrible nightmare of yesterday, and his savior should be nearby, at most a couple steps away. And yet no matter how much he spoke to the darkness, no answers came in return. Could it have all been a trick, a delusion to replace how he'd really gotten here?

Finally, he heard something, and immediately regretted wanting to hear anything at all. "Help… me… little spirit…" Rough and weak, the voice of the moki came from over the ledge, deep in the fluids below; the location a clear indication of the danger he was in if the tone hadn't revealed it already. Ori peered over the edge, careful not to fall off as he looked for the moki. He wished his rescuer glowed like him, as his search was agonizingly slow, even if it only took a few seconds.

There he was! Ori's eyes widened in horror; his rescuer, helpless and all out of strength, was struggling in the acidic water beneath the stony building. Where was that rope? It had to be somewhere. The search tore at his nerves, but again proved successful. He threw the rope right down the stony wall with a perfect toss, the end splashing in the corrosive liquid only inches from the moki. "Here! Take the rope and climb up!" Ori shouted. It should have been easy, but fate had different ideas for the spirit and moki duo. The moki's arms remained locked to his sides as his eyes told a different, more desperate story. "I… I can't feel my arms!" he grunted, even the act of speaking taking herculean efforts from him. Purely appalled, the spirit's face twisted into disturbed forms as he held his breath. His imagination ran through more and only more horrible ways his friend could have been struck with immobility so recently. The feelings almost distracted him from the situation at hand, but Ori's will was strong. "Hold on! I'm coming down!" Throwing caution to the wind, he rappelled down the rope to a point just above the swirling liquid. Upon arriving there, he outstretched his right arm to the moki in an attempt to grab him. "Grab my paw!"That was when it happened. The moki's face shifted from a suffering look of desperation to a sad and serious expression befitting a statue. His last sentence echoed forever in the depth's of Ori's mind.

"It´s over Ori… you can´t help me anymore."

…

A high-pitched shout rang out through the fleshy cave, indicating only one thing: a small, scared spirit had sat up in a cold sweat after being terrified by his own mind.

"Are you alright, little one?" asked the moki nearby, concern prominent on his face and kindness evident in his voice. To Ori, the difference between the sight now and the nightmare was like night and day. He slowly turned his head towards his now twice savior, the moki's eyes symbolizing all that was good in the world to him. "You seem… scared, dare I say. Did a dream bother you?" The little spirit gave only a slight nod in response, his humble face saying all that needed to be said. "Don't worry. I will never leave your side. I promise," ensured the moki, seemingly more relaxed now that he knew his new friend was safe. "Actually, I do have a little question for you," he continued. "You haven't told me your name yet." Ori turned to face the invisible ceiling far above, his thoughts restlessly bothering him with a ceaseless ruckus. "Ori…," he whispered, the sound barely leaving his soft glowing lips. At that, the moki let loose a small chuckle into his paw. "What's so funny about that?" defended Ori, visibly confused. The moki's paw fell from his mouth as he turned to face the spirit, taking on a more serious attitude as he did so. "Oh, sorry. It's funny because my name is Mori."

"Ah…" Now Ori had to smile a little himself. "That's… a pretty name," he said. Mori gave a brief bark of amusement at the spirit's words and pulled his scarf a little tighter. "Thank you," he responded. "Who knows, maybe my parents named me after you. Could be that it's our destiny to meet each other."

"Maybe…," said Ori after a short pause, his sentence falling off as his head once again confronted him with the dream from before. Not the nightmarish one, but the dream before that one. The one with that kind toad named… Kwolok.

It hadn't been a normal dream. At least, it certainly hadn't felt like a normal dream, this one was different somehow. Ori didn't know why exactly, but it felt as though it were one piece of a picture he hadn't found all the parts to yet. A memory of some event that had happened ages ago, far before his own lifetime, that he was sure of. Perhaps it was just a passing attempt of making sense of it all, and it didn't actually have any meaning. Then again, the possibility of connecting his dreams and somehow interpreting them in hopes of finding out anything about their purpose was very alluring. So alluring was the prospect, in fact, that he couldn't wait to sleep again and dive further into the mystery in spite of the nightmarish qualities that the dreams held, but for now he couldn't do anything other than tell his new companion about his experiences. He didn't really want to bombard the moki with his own fragmented memories and the most likely incommunicable story that hid behind them, but telling him a few parts wouldn't hurt. Besides, Mori seemed very interested in anything he had to say relating to spirits anyway.

A voice drew him back to the present. "You slept very nervously, Ori," Mori said, the worry sneaking back into his voice as if he could already smell the enigma hiding behind his dream. "You kept whispering the name "Kwolok" while you were sleeping, did you want to elaborate on that?" Eyes widened, Ori's mouth curved into a frown, the tiny wrinkles too minute to see. "I… talked in my sleep?" he asked humbly, embarrassed. Mori needed no further prodding. "Hah! Yes, yes you did! I was kinda glad I didn't sleep, actually." The frown grew and its bearer's gaze dropped to the floor. He was moderately ashamed of his unconscious performances, and made a mental note to avoid learning what else he may have been doing while he was sleeping. "Sorry about that," he mumbled indistinctly. "Ah, no worries, it didn't bother me at all. Quite the contrary, I must add! Now back to the why, could you tell me what happened in your dream?"

His gaze rose to the ceiling once more as he scratched at his chin in a deliberate dramatization. "You know, I think there might just be a few pieces left I can tie together."

IV

"So Kwolok was the big guardian of the mokis?" asked Ori with an intrigued tone. Sharing his dreams with Mori had been a good idea, the moki knew a lot more about past affairs than he did. The ancient toad in particular was of interest to him, both because he showed up in his dream as well as seemed to be one of the most important historical figures anywhere. "Yes, he was the one who pledged protection to our kind. He saved our families when the decay destroyed our former home by bringing us to the village we still inhabit today, the Wellspring Glades. Unfortunately, the gleaming hero was forced to take his life when a dark creature corrupted his mind and turned him against us. At least, that's what my parents told me when I was younger. That's exactly what you dreamt, right? If you've really experienced these visions of the past, then there is no doubt that you're witnessing his memories firsthand. Your own memories."

The little spirit's emotions switched into overdrive. The moki had just confirmed his theories on him being somehow connected to the gleaming hero.

"So you mean _I_ was the gleaming hero?" he asked incredulously.

The moki tilted his head. "Maybe. At the very least, I'm sure that you share certain memories with him, but we don't have any sizable evidence to point one way or the other yet. You said that the dream felt like a small piece of a broken picture, yes?" Ori nodded in response. "So you'll have to find the other pieces and put them together. If you also take the toad's life in self-defense in your next dream, then there's no doubt that you dreamt the gleaming hero's memories."

That was enough for Ori. "Well, I'm not going to pass up on learning more from them, then. Fortunately, I did find something back in that cave. I could use it to write down my dreams, that way we won't forget them." He brought his paws forward to summon the book. Meanwhile, Mori was ferociously studying his every action, completely unsure of what the spirit was doing. He was just about to ask why the spirit's paws were glowing brighter and brighter when something in the shape of a book began to materialize in Ori's paws, causing Mori to flinch in surprise. The whole process barely took four seconds, and by the end the full shape of a journal had manifested itself in the middle of the spirit's paws. Mori immediately recognized the book and exclaimed, "You… you found my journal! Where did you find that? Are you some kind of wizard, Ori? I can't imagine what else your kind might be capable of." Excitement radiated off of him as he shook with raw astonishment. Ori didn't want to drown in questions, so he interrupted before Mori could start asking them. "Yeah, I'd already assumed that you were the author of this book. You should know that you really helped me find a way into that temple! Personally, I have a few questions to ask on some of your notes, though." Great, now he could control the questions, plus he really did want to find out more about the secrets of the temple. Mori let out another one of his signature brief laughs before putting on a genuinely kind face.

"Go ahead, little friend. Time is not our enemy here."

Oh, right. The muffled beats of a large heart and the whooshing air of a mostly living cave brushed his long, shiny ears, reminding the spirit of the environment where he and his new companion were situated. "You're right…," he said, a soft smile forming on his face. "Down to it then, there are a few pages that were ripped off and—"

"What?!" interrupted the now slightly upset moki, "Those silly creatures… They must have thought it to be food and made off with them." Ori sighed and started again. "Well, they must've thought me to be food too. They hunted me across the whole cave system until I dove into a dark pool of water. Anyways, back to the book, I was curious on how the pages looked before they were torn out. Do you think you remember them well enough to make them anew?" asked Ori. Mori frowned and scratched behind his right ear, thinking over the pages' contents.

"I think I may remember a few of the pages, but I'll need more light than these dank caverns provide if I'm going to have any chance at an accurate reproduction." No sooner than the last word leave his mouth did Ori shout, "I can be your light!" as he enthusiastically flung himself behind the moki and laid his head on the moki's left shoulder. At first he thought the arrangement to be a good idea, but soon the building pressure on his neck from his own weight became a problem. Mori was a whole head taller than he was, and he was almost hanging off the shoulder with his chin supporting most of his weight. "No"—Ori's breath wheezed—"you're"—he let out another cough—"you're too tall for me." As he said this, he was still hanging on Mori's shoulder and had to squirm to fall off of it, hitting the floor and immediately losing his balance. Mori was forced into mirthful laughter at the scene of the spirit gasping for air on the ground, very little had passed for entertainment in the weeks he had spent here. Struggling for words himself through the laughter, he said, "You know, I think I have a better solution."

The moki returned to his bag and rummaged through whatever else he had in there, making a surprising amount of noise while he did so. A warm, yellowish light illuminated his face after he finally stopped digging, and he reached down to bring out whatever the source of the light was. "I have something here that might make it a little brighter in here." Ori's eyes widened, he couldn't believe what the moki was holding. An orb that emitted such a pleasing warmth and glowed with that exact orange tone could only be from one place. As Mori set it down and backed away, the orb expanded further and further outward, reaching almost Ori's size before stopping. Even though Ori had never seen anything of the sort, he knew what it was. "That's an orb of light essence! You hauled that around in your bag? Where did you even get it from?" he demanded.

"Hey, I didn't get this myself. It was a gift from Grom. He said that it warms your heart whenever you feel lonely and that he found it in a nearby cave he used to take resources from back when he was excavating land around our village. Besides, how did you know what this was anyway? I always thought it was the last one." With that deft spin, Ori was left scratching his head. "I… I guess spirits just know these things…," he said, more confused than he was anything else. The moki laughed, surprised his deflection had worked so well. "You're probably right, but my personal intuition says that your knowledge may have something to do with your memories, Ori." All Ori could do in response was to merely look deeply into the moki's eyes and blink a few times while his tail played its own games behind his back. The silence became somewhat uncomfortable until Mori realized why he'd brought out the orb in the first place. "Oh, yeah, let's see if I can rewrite those pages," he said quickly, scrolling through the papers filling his journal.

…

"Yes… just one line… and… done!" Mori muttered indistinctly into his scarf, now stuffed over his mouth in the usual position it was in while he did research. "That part's probably important to him…," he continued. "Hey Ori! I've got something for you to see!" He held the book up to the spirit lounging casually on the floor next to him, presenting the pages with ecstatic glee. "Can you identify what the drawing displays?" Ori reached for the journal, bringing it closer with a careful touch as to not smudge the delicate charcoal line work. He had to stare at it for several seconds before his eyes adjusted enough to tell what he was looking at, but eventually he got an answer. "This… is meant to be the backside of some creature, right?" he said, a little disappointed in the content Mori had chosen to show him. Mori wasn't one to notice in his fervor, though, and excitedly stated, "Exactly right! Now, try to imagine a big, gigantic maw going along the left page before that was ripped off." The spirit's boredom faded as he realized the significance of what he was being shown. "You mean… that's…" The moki just had to interrupt him, not able to contain his excitement any longer. "Correct! It's the creature we're currently inside. I copied it off a wall I found in the temple. My thoughts say that since they drew it in such a majestic way, they must have honored it somehow." Ori's head lilted to the side as he narrowed his eyes to the universal thinking squint. "What's your point, Mori?"

"The creature that swallowed us is not evil."

Of course! The moki had gone insane sitting down here in the darkness for who knows how long; it was the only logical explanation for the senseless drivel that he was spewing. At least, that's what Ori thought. He thought about voicing his opinions on the matter to the madman next to him, but he opted for a more subtle approach. "I… don't really follow you. This creature hunted both of us down, tore it's horrible big maw wide open, and fed on us like the hungry predator it is. The acids almost corroded though my skin, and they would have if you hadn't been there. How in Niwen would you ever think it would be friendly?" Mori sighed briefly, preparing for another long-winded explanation.

"Alright, alright, I get it sounds crazy. But do you know what I think, Ori? This place was meant to be some kind of shelter. I'm certain about that part at least, because there is an inexhaustible water source deeper inside the building. Unfortunately, we can't reach it because there are critters waiting for me on the path to it. I blocked their way out for safety, but my own water sources are starting to fade away." Lightning shot through Ori's nerves, and he got up in almost no time at all. "What? Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find this water source." But before the spirit could bolt around the nearest corner, Mori grabbed his wrist with a concerned look on his face. "Ori, wait. It's dangerous in there. Don't you think we should at least come up with a plan before diving headfirst into danger?" Ori finally had something useful to go do, and nothing was going to stop him. He slowly shook his head without ever turning away from his destination. "No, no matter what waits for us in there, I will protect you."

…

"It… just… won't… budge…" they both grunted. They had been trying to push the boulders that were blocking the entrance to the building, but it had been a laughably futile effort. Ori made a connection to what Mori had said earlier, and asked it now. "Seriously, how did you manage to move these boulders here and block the door in the first place? Even both of us together are too weak to move them at all." Mori blushed, realizing he had forgotten part of his story. "I… actually didn't do that part myself. I opened the massive door with a button and it slid up slightly, just barely enough for me to squeeze under. After that, it collapsed." Ori sighed, then panted out, "I see… that makes sense." He would have talked further, but his breath had been too taken by the effort of pushing the rocks for anything extra.

Luckily, Mori was there to voice his concerns for him. "Sooo… how are we supposed to get in?" he asked, a touch of desperation entering his voice at the end. No sooner than he had finished his sentence did Ori dash back. "I've got an idea!" he shouted, the words taking longer than his run back to the ball of light essence hovering millimeters above the stony floor. "May I?" he asked, turning to Mori. Mori gave a short sigh, disappointed in the prospects of losing his nicest possession. He could already imagine what the spirit planned to do with it, but he also couldn't come up with any other way to move through the door. After a tense pause, he nodded. Ori returned the nod and carefully grabbed the sphere of light. When his paws touched the glow ball, his whole body began to shine with flashes of yellow and orange that only grew brighter as the sphere shrank in his paws. "Ori… what happened to you?" dropped the moki, he had never heard of anything like this before. An overwhelmingly pleasant warmth filled the spirit with a hope and strength he normally only felt in his deepest, most powerful dreams. The essence absorbed, Ori wordlessly walked back towards the blocked off entrance and put his still orange glowing paws against the boulders. Without showing even the slightest degree of exertion, the boulders crashed to the side with a single push from the now indescribable strength the spirit wielded. Indeed, the whole building seemed to rumble when he removed the biggest rock and the entire blocked doorway collapsed in on itself, revealing a massive pathway forward. Both the spirit and the moki had to jump backwards in unison to avoid their paws and hooves from being crushed underneath the hail of stones hitting the ground with a deafening roar before the room returned to silence.

"That… was… incredible." Mori couldn't bring himself to do anything other than simply watch the scene unfold in front of him. The spirit may have had the voice of an innocent child and may have even acted like one, but he was as strong as a being at least three times taller than him.

Darkness and a surprisingly cool rush of air met them at the core of the stony building. "Let's see where they hide now," Ori said confidently, his sharp blade of light tightly grasped in his right paw. "What? You… you plan to fight them?" the even more concerned moki asked, his fear infecting every movement he made. "I don't plan to fight them. I plan to take them down." Ori's eyes narrowed, his focus sharpening into a deadly point. His ears scanned the room for any semblance of noise. His heart raced with enough power to escape his chest, shooting his blood into every part of his system. He could feel it rushing through his veins like a rushing torrent, blasting laziness aside without mercy. Obviously, he was nervous. On the edge of dread, even. He was more than familiar with the previously unbearable fear of death that had stuck with him the whole time he'd been on this adventure, but now he had to protect a friend as well. Nothing, not one claw was going to get through him tonight. He desperately tried to suppress the unbecoming shivering of his whole body, anything to prevent Mori from getting even the slightest idea of how scared his guardian really was. More than ever did the moki need someone who was strong and confident. Someone who could protect him from the evils of the underworld. "I really hope that works…" he mentally whispered to himself, pointing the sharp peak of his blade at the darkness before him.

He halted his breath, the sound it made was too much for now. Nothing remained but the omnipresent thick dismay and his own heartbeat filling his ears. And, of course, the weird sensation of something terrible edging closer.


	13. The Core´s Guardian

* * *

The spirit and moki duo carefully made their way down the dark and twisting pathway. Nothing but darkness made itself known to them, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t both terrified. For Ori’s part, he had that strange feeling, that tingle he always got right before danger struck. Much to his chagrin, he hadn’t ever been able to change that last part yet.

Mori almost jumped out of his skin when the silence broke, but it was just Ori taking a sharp breath before speaking. “They’re right in front of us… try not to move a muscle.” The moki didn’t quite know why, but the incredible abilities of the spirit were almost funny to him at the moment. He opted to shake his head in disbelief, asking, “Wait, you… you can sense the—” “Shh!” Ori interrupted. “Quiet… they’re going to hear us,” he whispered in the kindest voice he could offer at the moment, desperately trying to offset his own fear with a mask of bravado. “They’re… they are very close by…” The wavering shiver of his breath forced him to speak with brief pauses and threatened to unhinge his mask. Mori’s voice did an even better job at that, though. “Umm… Ori? A—above you…” Cold fear pinned his ears to his back as it crawled along his spine. With no other choice, his gaze slowly rose upward.

Dreaded things, there they were. Thousands of them hung from the ceiling, their yellowish glowing eyes staring into their delicious prey. For a moment, a viewer would be forgiven for mistaking them for statues. That was until the monsters simultaneously unfurled their wings, or whatever they were, with a loud hiss aimed directly at their soon-to-be catch. Their nasty bodies shook with a frantic, unnatural shiver. Rather than be eaten alive, Ori’s previous experiences let him know exactly what was going to happen next, and he acted.

“Dive!” he shouted, grabbing the moki and swinging him around himself before jumping to the side in a roll. The sticky net projectiles missed, albeit barely, crashing to the ground in a splash. It was too close of a call for the spirit’s liking, but there wasn’t any time for a breather. New shots were already on track, a flood of the net flying at them and sparking a new sense of desperation. Instinctively, Ori’s paws lit up and shaped his noble weapon in a nearly unconscious action. He’d gotten a lot better since he first came down here. Now wasn’t the time to focus on his improvements, however, and with a forceful swing Ori split the air with a howling whistle. The webs fell to the ground as if they were nothing, having lost both their structural integrity and momentum in an instant.

As the torn fiber sank to the ground, the moment was ripe for a counterattack. He had to show that both he and his new friend were most certainly not easy prey to catch! Clutching his razor-sharp blade in his right paw, he zoomed at a dense cluster of the disgusting creatures with a silent roar. His hooves burned a trail of orange light on the stony path behind him as he raised his blade to fully utilize its mighty crackles of pure energy. Although, it was quickly becoming less and less of a blade, elongating and forming a spear tip at the peak. With all the strength he could muster, Ori swung his deadly weapon in a strike far beyond any skill level he previously had demonstrated before. His swings, now a blur of movement so fast his blade may have been nothing more than a feather, sliced the unfortunate opponents into thousands of pieces before they could even begin to avoid the onslaught. Their dark purple blood splattered all over the floor and the smallest candle of life they once held was extinguished as though it never held a flame at all.

Ori gracefully landed on his hooves, landing so softly that it was debatable on whether the small clap really happened. Even with all the action, his fur was completely unbloodied. Not even bothering to look at the carnage behind him, he took his left paw and symbolically bisected his body before laying the edge on his chest and taking a deep, calming breath. Even in the calming ritual, his weapon was still tightly held in the other paw. The brutal picture of the sliced enemies and their ruptured veins vanished into the darkness of his mind like dissolving fog. A single focused breath later, and he mastered his concentration and heartbeat once more.

Mori was speechless. “You´re… you´re a mighty warrior, Ori. I can’t even imagine what your kind must be capable of.” Humble as always, the little spirit slowly shook his head. “No. I’m not mighty, it was the light that gave me its strength.” Fate wasn’t willing to let the short respite last any longer, though. Its terrible game moved onwards to the next stage, and the pools of corrupted liquid began to take a shape.

“Uhmmm… Ori? Their blood is moving. Their blood is moving!” Mori’s voice cried in a shivering panic. His eyes revealed a mixture of utmost distress and nausea, and it was visibly clear that whatever the scene unfolding before him was, it would probably be a new source of nightmares for the foreseeable future.

That familiar cold dread overtook Ori’s being again as he watched the bubbling liquid with much a similar reaction to the moki. Unlike him, however, he couldn’t afford to show fear. Before his ears could droop in fear, he forcefully pulled them into a spiked position, high and sharp. Clenching his teeth, he directed the peak of his weapon to the unfolding and constantly enlarging purple mass. “No, no room for fear,” he thought, “Not the time!” Despite his efforts to stay calm, there was nothing he could do about his poor empty stomach from flipping in disgust upon realizing what the viscous liquid was forming.

Something horrible.

The abomination unfolding itself before him looked somewhat like its smaller predecessors, that sort of mix between a bat and a spider. Covered in the darkest black and dotted with red glowing eyes, its appearance reminded Ori of a picture from earlier that night he would rather have not remembered. Sheer terror radiated from the beast, sending both the moki and the spirit into a state of uncontrollable shivering. For those with normal eyes, it was almost impossible to make out the contour of its body, the darkness camouflaging perfectly with its outermost layers. If it were to be described, disgust would be the most prominent reaction. A longer explanation would include that it was more than three times the size of its component creatures, had four black legs with some kind of torn wings attached to them, and supported an unnaturally shaking head that wanted nothing more than to destroy its shivering prey.

Perhaps the most terrifying feature it held was its voice. It was somewhere in between the usual noises of customary living beings and the abstract eldritch realm beyond. Beneath the aggressive hisses and snarls laid a quiet, whispering voice speaking curses and promises that neither Ori nor Mori were able to understand.

For his part, Ori clung to his extended weapon, the energy contained within occasionally breaking free in yellowish gushes of powerful lightning. “H—hide Mori!” the scared spirit stuttered, desperately holding on to his last scraps of rational thought. His friend quickly understood what had to be done, and nodded frantically before vanishing from the creature’s sight. Not having to protect anyone, Ori pointed his weapon’s point towards the enemy while trying to collect any courage he may have still had.

The creature was not impressed in the slightest at this lackluster display of resistance and let loose an ear-numbing hiss in the spirit’s direction, the entire building rumbling and only shaking harder with the increasing volume.

Trying as hard as he could to be patient, Ori gave his best effort at standing as still as a tree, carefully watching the monster’s movement with fear-filled eyes as the creature threatened to eviscerate the shivering child. His breath became too difficult to command with the need for oxygen rising with every passing moment coupled with indescribable tingling sensations filled his belly. The tension that the dark creature output was comparable to an upcoming earthquake, like an electrified storm cloud filling the whole room and eagerly awaiting a chance to discharge a tremendous amount of energy. It became clear to Ori that it would attack in the next few seconds.

Just as he had made this determination, the creature forcefully lunged forward in a great push aimed directly at him, its legs slicing through the air and causing it to howl as loudly as if it had been pushed by one of the creature’s wings.

Not a second too early, Ori dove to the side with a leap and rolled along the hard floor with a grunt of pain. While this level of speed would have been enough to catch any normal opponent unawares, this beast boasted an exceptional agility and gave him a quick, forceful blow rather than an opening. Clenching his teeth, he barely blocked the sword-like appendage away before it could reach him, and yet just as he completed his counter, another leg came flying at him. Loud clashes of metal on metal rang throughout the cavernous room. Each impact lead to Ori’s entire body vibrating like a gong while the bat-spider suffered no such effects. Finally, he dashed backwards and drew back his tired arms for a practiced combination of several swings with his energy blade in a hasty attempt to break his opponent’s guard. His breath grew to match the fierce rhythm of his swings while his small larynx gave the mightiest yell it could to go with the final blow. The creature remained unimpressed, though, and none of the strikes struck.

Never one to give up, Ori tried a different approach. Rolling to the side to dodge another attack, an opportunity arose to dive towards the hind legs and unleash his fury there. An opportunity worth taking.

It worked!

One fast swing later, and the right hind leg buckled and stumbled back. As his opponent’s height lowered to a more reasonable altitude, he jumped upwards to the top of the creature with a high-pitched warrior’s cry and full intention on striking its back. So hopeful did the situation look that it really was a catastrophe when things took a turn for the worst. A creature possessing such agility and reaction speed noticed what its prey was up to with ease and jumped to the side, leading to Ori’s strike piercing nothing but the air and his face assuming a wide-eyed look of shock as he fell to the ground. He wouldn’t reach it.

One slash through the air later and…

A brief and earsplitting cry of agony reverberated off the walls of the room as red, shiny blood flew through the air, losing its glow and dying before ever even hitting the ground. The poor original vessel for the liquid hit the ground underneath it only for it to shower down beside him. He didn’t even have enough time to get up; the black being attempted to crush the near-defeated spirit in a move with both of its blade-like legs, a truly dramatic way to finish the battle, but Ori rolled away at the last second. The legs smashed into the ground with such force the noise alone caused his sensitive ears to ring. Opportunistic as ever, the obstinate little spirit took another opportunity to strike and swung his sword against the two weapon-like legs in an attempt to cut them off and cripple the creature. It was a partial success, with one of the legs slicing clean off, but he barely missed the second. Before suffering any consequences for such a daring action, he flung himself as far backwards as he could to avoid any possible counterattacks coming his way, of which there most certainly was. The creature hissed in pain, a sign that he actually dealt a damaging blow that was unlike the failed clashing from before. Confidence washed over him in waves, he finally had regained control over the situation.

The dark being, now down one of its appendages, changed tactics. It didn’t try to approach the spirit anymore, instead maintaining its distance. Ori bravely directed the peak of his weapon at it once more, re-assuming his normal combat stance without bothering to question the miraculous speed at which his injuries had healed.

One of the plans the beast came up with apparently held merit to it, and it opened its maw to spit several gooey balls of black ooze at its opponent. Ori was no amateur at dodging projectiles, though, and his almost casual dodges from side to side came naturally without him even really trying. That was the point, though. As one of the thick balls flew right over his head and his gaze followed it, he quickly realized that it hadn’t been aimed at him at all, but by then it was already too late. Only a second’s worth of inattentiveness was enough for the wicked fiend to rush over and smash him against the wall behind him. The process was so fast that it wasn’t even startling, there wasn’t time for shock to set in. His breath was forced out of him, and in the ensuing act he lost his grip on his weapon and let it fall. Separated from its owner, the creation shattered into thousands of shining pieces that dissolved in the air. It all happened in the blink of an eye, but in one instant, the entire situation of the fight had been changed and he was at the creature’s mercy.

When his vision cleared enough for him to see again, he immediately regretted seeing anything at all. He was stuck fast to the wall, held tightly by the black substance that the creature had shot behind him and left him no methods of escape that could possibly have been quick enough for survival. There was nothing left to do but just stare at the slowly approaching incarnation of evil itself in total horror.

Something changed about the whispering the being constantly gave. They became more aggressive, even louder, and somehow even painful in a way that wasn’t related to the noise. They weren’t comparable to the whispers he had heard back in the cave, instead they sounded more like a desperate call for help.

_“…Find…”_

Panic overtook any curiosity about the whispers and forced him to frantically whirl his entire body in an attempt to break free somehow. He whined, panted, breathed heavy, he tried everything, but it was all to no avail. Nothing he did changed the fact that he was stuck to a wall while the malevolent entity came ever closer.

Nothing seemed like it was going to help the poor thing anymore, but that was when he heard a confident voice up ahead. “Hey you! I have one of your ugly little legs! Come and get it!” Who could have found his way into the spirit’s mind this time? What kind of foolish games did it intend to play? It kind of sounded like…

“Mori? Mori, is that you?”

“That’s right!” the voice shouted. “Come and get me!”

Ori couldn’t believe what he was seeing. In front of him stood the moki, holding nothing other than the long, sharp leg in his paws and waving it around like it was some sort of prize. He shook his head in disbelief. The moki’s foolish attempt would lead to his death, didn’t he know that? “Mori! What are you doing?” he asked, though nothing he could have said would have reached over the screaming curses of the evil creature ahead. He watched as the abomination approach the brave moki without even giving the slightest attention to its already caught prey anymore. “Oh no… This is going to end badly…” said Mori, trying his best not to stutter.

Whatever his suicidal attempt was for, he had given Ori some badly needed extra time. He had to rescue him! While he closed his eyes for deeper focus, his mind played around with thoughts and ideas on how to break free from the sticky mass surrounding him. It had to be something big and powerful. Something like… an explosion!

Meanwhile, the moki tried his best to avoid a brutal evisceration courtesy of the remaining leg. “Your attacks may carry tremendous force, however, since you’ve lost one leg, you’ve lost any sense of balance you once had. You stumble with every attempt to attack me!” Confidence-boosting aside, Mori was actually right. The being had to balance the whole weight of its upper body on one single leg that was also the leg it used to assault its new prey, a major disadvantage when compared to the speed and agility it had on the spirit before. Eventually, the creature stumbled forwards particularly badly, and gave Mori a brief period during his dodge to look over at Ori. Why was the spirit shining with that yellowish tone?

With a brief cry of effort, the spirit let out a powerful burst of pure orange burning energy and vaporized the sticky mass in one go, freeing him from the wall to land gracefully on his hooves.

Confused by the loud clap of thunder, the creature once again turned to face the spirit, who was now more determined than ever. The edge of his weapon shone with bright crackles of barely-contained energy as its point never wavered from its opponent.

Now with more ponderous steps, the creature approached the spirit that was so recently defeated. It only took one swing with its front leg before it was flung violently to the side, the pathetic attempt easily parried by Ori. He finally crushed the creature’s guard, and from there broke through its black, wicked tissue. The painful, stinging deathblow rumbled throughout the whole being and caused it to stumble backwards. When it was time to finish his enemy off, Ori approached the now whirling thing and place his paw onto its body. He closed his eyes and began to collect the remaining power of the absorbed light resting in his body to finally finish his enemy off. Of course, this was when the being whispered yet another identifiable word in its tirade of unintelligible ones.

_“…Origin…”_

Ori’s eyes opened in his confusion, quickly combining the two words in his mind. While he may have wanted to ask more, he couldn’t stop the force of his light now and his body shone with a bright orange tone. Another forceful explosion of energy incinerated what was left of the creature, and it fell to ground, drifting off with a hissing moan before even making contact with the stony floor.

Breathing in ragged gasps from both the fear and exertion, Ori sank to the ground himself, completely exhausted. The two words the creature had provided him flowed relentlessly in his head and echoed with the power of thousands of different voices, an insufferable cacophony that prevented him from thinking of anything else.

  
“Oh dear, I thought it had killed you after it sliced you in the air… wait. You… don’t have any injuries.” Ori immediately considered the oddness of the already faded pain, inspecting his whole body while carefully driving over his arms with his paws. “You’re… right,” he said, astounded. It wasn’t hard to guess at what the reason could be, though. “I guess this was the power of the light I absorbed.” He made a pause, unsure of what to discuss first. “Mori…,” he started, “you put yourself in danger to save me. You could have died.”

The moki pondered his word choice very carefully. “I… I just had this really strong urge to help you. I forgot my fear like rage—” Before he could finish his sentence, a strong, warm hug from the smaller gleaming being finished it for him. “Thank you. Your courage saved my life.”

His head slowly moved away from Mori’s chest, and he kindly looked into his eyes. “But please… don’t put yourself in danger like that anymore. I can’t bear to see a friend getting hurt.” Mori’s current path of thought halted immediately as he digested what his shining comrade had just said. He had just called him a friend.

“Well, I didn’t really know how to get through here without you. To be honest, I had considered it impossible to get out here ever since I encountered these beasts. Then you came, filled my life with light and company, and… You gave me hope, Ori. I want to help you in recollecting whatever is left of your mysterious memories. Write down your dreams in my book and try to connect them properly. Maybe I can find a logical pattern to help you remember.”

“I’m grateful for your help, Mori,” Ori agreed. It was kind of difficult to think much further on it, and he changed the topic to focus on their original task.

“So, you were talking about there being a water spring here in this building. Could you possibly tell where it is?” he asked. “Oh, of course!” Mori practically shouted. He had almost forgotten the reason they were here in the first place. “It must be very close by. I saw it right before I saw the creatures next to it.”  
  
Ori gave a soft nod in agreement and looked over the room they were in. Their situation had finally cooled enough to give him a change to inspect their surroundings a little closer.  
  
Beneath them, the stony floor was covered in dust and debris. All remains of ancient architecture created in a way that the little spirit had no hope of understanding. “This must be it,” he said, stopping in front of a small metal basin that was filled to the brim with seemingly fresh water. It at least looked clean, but he wasn’t going to just trust it. To be absolutely certain, he dipped his finger into the liquid and licked the drops off. Nothing felt wrong about the water. It was that same old almost tasteless fluid that he was familiar with, ready to drink whenever he was thirsty. “It’s definitely drinkable,” he stated, turning to Mori with a smile of relief.  
  
But before Ori could begin to fill Mori’s tube, both of them could percieve a magical tone coming from behind them. When Ori turned around, before him was glowing light sphere that was more than a little familiar to him. It was if the yellowish glowing veil surrounding it was searching for the little spirit as it slowly expanded in his direction. Ori didn’t feel the anxiety and dread that came from being down here anymore, and instead moved closer to the shining sphere to hasten its search. In reverence, he stretched out his right arm towards the ball and gently spread his fingers, willing to embrace whatever it had to offer him. Much like the previous ball of light from earlier, there was no danger coming from this light, it was like the warmth of his mother. He began to hear a voice speak, and while it was inexplicable where the sound came from, his intuition knew that it had to come from the light hovering in front of him.  
  
_"I once was the guardian of the core. I served the spirits, and they served me. One sorrowful day, they vanished and left us in stillness. Died in front of our eyes, their exhausted light, extinguished by darkness."_   
  
Ori’s reverence for the light quickly changed to grief at the last sentence. “They… died?” echoed his soft voice, his eyes coming together as they glassed over, followed by his slowly drooping ears. Just like with his mysterious dreams, he couldn’t tell, why, but it seemed as though he was more than familiar with loss and a beloved person’s death.

The light finished its speech and faded away, letting the little spirit absorb its energy. He closed his eyes to fully experience the soft touch of its warmth in his body. Even though he didn’t know any of the spirits who died here personally, he let out a single tear that shone like a star while it rolled down his cheek.  
  
“Who died?” asked Mori with a worried expression, fearful of what his friend must have seen. Ori didn’t even turn around before responding. “The spirits who lived here. They all died in front of his eyes. The light told me. It must have been a tragic event.” The moki immediately forgot the sorrow of the little spirit and shook his own head in excitement to clear his thoughts. “Wait. Did you just say ‘The spirits who lived here?’ So I was right with my assumption. They indeed lived inside this beast! Well, they certainly chose a weird place to call home, that’s for sure.”

Ignoring the moki’s somewhat disrespectful comment, Ori moved his head to scan what was left in the room. “This room can’t just be here with no purpose. There has to be something we’ve overlooked.”

“Well, my personal guess is that this room was merely designed for the guardian to live in. Whatever he protected, however, must be hiding behind another door,” answered Mori as he adjusted his scarf. The search hardly took any time at all, Ori’s light scratched over the lines of another heavy door decorated with more mysterious mosaics all over it. Whatever awaited them inside, they were prepared for it.

Ori’s mind wasn’t ever at rest, however. What was the creature trying to say with those unidentifiable whispers it wouldn’t shut up about? Was there more to the message than just those two words? Could it have told him more if he had left it alive a little longer? That last question he could answer. Thinking it wouldn’t have killed them both without hesitation would be stupid. He couldn’t have spared it any longer.

The other questions remained a bigger secret, though. More than ever, the little spirit was dying to find out more about the ancient past. About his kind’s past. About _his_ past.


	14. Winterish Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is off

* * *

Ori had memories of visiting sacred places before. Grand temples and elaborate, sprawling complexes stood out most pointedly among his many strange recollections. Even so, the great hallway he found himself walking in was like nothing he had ever seen before. The walls with their fabulously engraved incredible artworks, enormous pillars stretching so high he had to crane his neck and lean back to see their tops, the raw splendor of being in such a massive space, and even oddly familiar statues of which some resembled him a little too closely for comfort, all of it constructed from gold, fine marble, and other such valuable materials.

Still, even with all the majesty the previous work had afforded him, none of it could compare to what he stood before now.

Unlike every other door in the temple, the massive monolith-like wall was clearly out of axle grease as sharp peals of noise sounded out as the stone scratched along the floors in its haste to get out of the way. Behind it, a golden flash of light awaited them from just around a corner, this one being special in that the light cascading around the edge feeling bright and full of energy, a very welcoming invitation forward. Decorations in the form of incredible paintings ran over the ceiling and down the massive pillars supporting it. Everything looked as though it were made of gold, but it was not a general metal-like material, no. Despite its otherworldly and magical nature, Ori could guess as to what it was made of. It was the energy he felt resting within himself ever since his light awoke and gifted him with life. Of course, it was a few orders of magnitude stronger, bringing with it a semblance of standing before his dear father.

Greater than even that, though, was the centerpiece of the room. A great fountain sat there, topped with an invaluable basin that looked as though it could hold his light weight.

Neither could prevent their eyes from wandering to the very top. Ori’s little mouth hang softly open, astonished, while Mori’s paw drove over the immaculate engraving-encrusted walls. The moki ran his finger along one line in particular, trying to analyze the painting. “Hmm… most exceedingly intriguing! I can’t tell what it is, no matter how I try to associate it with something.” He took a sharp breath before continuing, “At the most basic level, I interpret it as some kind of energy source. Just look at how powerful it looks! It covers almost the whole wall, like some serpent of flames meandering along.”

Ori, however, had lost interest halfway though the moki’s observations. Something else was calling for him, silently, but strongly. It couldn’t really be further described than that. His gaze flew around the room, passing over his friend and the engravings while searching for the source of the beckoning feeling, until it eventually came to rest on one specific painting.

One painting out of several was far more distinct to the little spirit, the artworks to the side fading out his thoughts. Right behind the mystical fountain was a picture of a spirit presenting his palms to the ceiling in some sort of prayer position. Ori wasn’t sure why, but it looked as though they wanted to catch something falling down, or to handover some presented gift.

He turned back to Mori standing at his side and opened his mouth to speak, but the moki could already tell from his expression what he wanted to ask. “For me, it looks like some kind of ritual position,” he stated. “I’m absolutely certain that it has something to do with this fountain here. Probably with the basin on top of it.” Ori brushed over his two antennae with his paw and blinked. “You mean, I should try and pose like this”—he assumed the position on the wall—“while standing in the basin?” He was unsure of what copying the painting would do, but his uncertainty was filled with curiosity and optimism. Mori merely nodded hesitantly in response, while Ori’s planning clearly was hinging on his answer.

Carefully, with light steps and a wary feeling, the spirit drew closer to the large, empty fountain. When he got to the edge of the basin, he jumped and caught it with his paws. A short struggle later, he pushed himself to the top and straightened himself out again. That’s when the feeling got stronger.

It was as though a very quiet, very kind voice was telling him to slowly close his eyes and listen to his heart.

Seeing no reason to object, he did exactly that and focused on his heart and light within. Very soon after he did so, he felt an erupting warmth spread forth from his inner being. Another invisible, gentle force began to move his body, with his tail and ears rising together with his paws into the prayer position depicted upon the wall, just reaching his chin.  
  
His palms began to shine with a bright yellowish tone and a soft liquid of the same color dripped out from them, quickly becoming a gushing torrent of fluid flowing down the basin he was standing in. It felt as though the fluid was washing him away in all directions at once, sort of like the same sensation he felt when relieving himself, but with the difference being the warmth emanating throughout every fiber of his body.  
  
From the basin the shining liquid flooded the whole fountain. An already strong pulsing of energy began to increase sharply with every passing second as the majestically built masonry shone brighter and brighter. Mori was forced to close his eyes and look away until, finally, a massive explosion of energy blasted out of the fountain and rushed through the whole building like a sonic wave. With the glowing structure beneath Ori’s hooves full, the light filled every gap in the mysterious mosaics, increasing their previous simmer to a bright shine. The terrible, invisible beast that had recently covered every corner they weren’t looking at was chased away like it was nothing more than vermin. With the darkness lifted, the temple lit up like an ignited candle.

Suddenly, a deep loud voice rumbled through seemingly the whole temple, no, the whole being they were in. It sounded like a very drawn-out yawn, causing the whole building to quake. Mori tried to stay on his paws, stretching his arms to the side for balance. Ori quickly turned his head to his companion and asked, somewhat apprehensively, “What happened?” Before the moki could answer though, the deep voice began to speak.

“My brave saviors, follow the light out of my being so that I may see you.”

As soon as it finished speaking, they were greeted with a little floating light sphere, not too much unlike the others they had seen before. “And who would you be, then?” Mori asked the ball in front of them, which definitely didn’t look like it would give him an answer. Ori gave the moki a look and said, “Mori… I’m going to assume that not everything that’s shiny has a soul and wants to talk to us…. Let’s just do what the mysterious voice said and follow the light.” He began to walk behind the sphere with light steps and curious eyes.

It led them straight to a wall, the last thing now separating them from the outside world.

Ori’s face fell, and Mori was about to give a piece of his mind to the mysterious voice on the feasibility of phasing through solid objects when the gigantic wall suddenly separated apart in all directions like some kind of exotic door. It was if several giant boulders were shoved to the side, but as the wall settled, a sweet and fresh breeze from the outside tickled the duo’s ears and sent a comfortable wave from their head down to their respective hooves and paws.  
  
Before them awaited a dark night outside, but there was at least a little bit of sunlight greeting their eyes through the thick masses of clouds above them. Below and in front of them was the watery surface of a lake, glittering very softly while a few light raindrops gently rippled the water.

Quickly, before Ori could jump in, Mori had a point to make: “Ori, I can’t swim.”

Just in time too, as Ori was preparing for an epic jump in the water and had to stop himself at the last second to give his companion a pained look. “But… you’re an adventurer. Are you sure you haven’t learned it somehow?” The moki gave a humble nod in response, a little too ashamed to meet his friend’s eyes. He couldn’t find a single memory that may have explained his fear of the open water, but he knew his brain only focused on the danger itself. “I’m not sure if I can carry you,” Ori added. The moki took a moment to think further about the new challenge when an idea struck.

“I know! How about putting me into your magical storage room?” His comrade, however, wasn’t nearly as amused as he was about that idea. In fact, Ori was visibly confused, his face twisted into an uncomprehending stare. “M-magical storage room? What ever do you mean by that?” he questioned. Mori wasn’t one to give up, however. “You don’t know? You were able to bring my journal with you without even using a bag. It just appeared in your paws right in front of my eyes. I am willing to be the first living test subject in my new experiment: testing if spirits can store living beings in their magical pockets! And I call it ‘The Magical Storage Room’.” It took Ori a while to realize what his friend was going on about, but upon realization, he felt rather the opposite of Mori’s excitement. He was shocked and more than a little apprehensive about that suggestion. “No,” he said quickly. “I will never bring you into danger, not even for your own experiment. Plus this isn’t a ‘magical pocket’ of some kind. If I summon my sword, it is just a manifestation of my own mind. At least, that’s what Kiri told us, and I’m fairly sure that it works just the same with your book.” Mori was still curious, though. “Oh, I see. So you manifest a thought in your mind as solid light energy? That’s exceedingly fascinating.” Ori nodded and exhaled, somewhat relieved that his friend understood what he meant. “Besides… you remember how the book didn’t disappear all at once, don’t you? It dissolved in my paws… I really don’t think I want to risk the same happening to you, for obvious reasons.” Mori’s face spoke similar concerns. “You’re probably right. That was stupid. That puts us back at square one then, so what do you suggest?” The little spirit looked quite clueless at first, but inspiration struck as he looked into Mori’s eyes and said, “I have a better idea.”  
  
He leapt into the water and swam towards the nearest shore. “What are you up to, Ori?” shouted Mori, a little fearfully. While pushing his light body up out of the water, Ori shouted back, “You’ll see!”  
  
Hundreds of giant trees greeted the little spirit once more, welcoming him back to the living forest. There were moments back in that cave where he wasn’t sure if he’d ever see it again. Still, he had a task to complete. Petting his round chin with his finger, he looked up into the gently swaying treetops, slowly dancing in the wind. Soft clouds covered the sky behind them, giving the picture a scenic backdrop. He took it all in, basking in the image for a moment before bringing himself back in and looking for a suitable branch to cut. Spotting one particularly fine growth near the top of one of the trees, he elegantly climbed a nearby tree and reached its top within a couple of seconds.

Back in the middle of the lake, the moki couldn’t do anything more than watch as a big, long branch fell from the green sea of leaves above with a loud thud and a brief flash of light. Soon after, the little spirit was shoving the log across the ground towards the water. Lucky for him, the grass was soft and as such pushing the wood was an almost effortless endeavor. The log splashed into the water and floated upon its calm surface. Ori guided it over, the log just as long as he needed it to be.

“Here, you can use this to get across. I’m here, should you stumble,” said Ori, pleased with himself. “Alright…,” Mori said hesitantly, “I’ll try it.” Very carefully, the moki put one paw on the wooden surface, only to immediately pull it back. Ori’s ears drooped pitifully. “What’s wrong, Mori?” he asked. The moki was more than a little embarrassed about his fear of deep water, but fear was still stronger than any sense of pride he had. “It’s… it’s not stable,” Mori stuttered. The little spirit blinked, his mind blank before a thought ran through his mind. “Wow… He really is serious about the whole swimming thing,” he thought. Realizing he had to say something, Ori said, “Hold on, I’m coming.” He put one hoof over the branch without hesitation to steady it. The position was a little awkward, but the branch was thin enough that he wouldn’t have too much trouble pushing it across the water.

Although he was mainly focused on his friend at the moment, Ori couldn’t help but admire the massive and majestic being they were in. From outside, back on the shore, it looked as though its whole body was made of stone. Back in the cave, the stone had been full of darkness and sorrow, but now it looked alive and friendly, the complete opposite of beforehand. The calming atmosphere let him try some calming himself. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you,” he said, slowly but surely moving closer to his comrade and extending his arm in a gesture of kindness.

With Mori’s trust and Ori´s help, they both reached the shore.

It was there that the voice came again, its source clear this time. “Please, come closer to me, my children. I can hardly move in these shallow waters.”

…

  
“Brave children of the forest, hear me. It’s been decades since I last saw one of your kind, little spirit. I am Gor. Once, I was the guardian of the springs of Niwen, until I was forced into an eternal slumber in the darkness.”

The large being made a brief pause.

“Little glowing child, little fluffy moki. You have restored the light within me and brought my spirit back to the light. Even with your heroic act, I’m afraid I can still feel darkness covering this land. I wish I could tell you more, but my sight is limited. I can’t see the origin of what is trying to devour our forest. See the clouds clenching together in a dark mass over there? They warn of something horrible nearby. Take care of yourselves, children. Seek the light of our great father. Seek for the eternal vessel. Call me from the surface, if your heart wants for warmth.”

With his kind words over, the giant being vanished beneath the surface, somehow not causing even a single ripple as it displaced untold masses of water. A deep, long sigh accompanied its disappearance.

Mori’s face showed his clear concerns over what the creature had just said. “Ori, what did he mean by that? Darkness that he could still feel? Is there something evil just around the corner and we are simply not aware of it? Is it that soft rain that’s increasingly becoming less so?” The little spirit had to think over the words himself, assuming much the same expression as his friend. “I will tell father. Maybe he knows something about it. Do you want to come with me?” The moki hesitated. “Back to the Glades,” he mused, a sigh of nostalgia coming over his lips. “It’s been months since I’ve been there.”

Ori interrupted him. “No, I actually want to visit that huge tree over there. That’s our father.”

“Oh,” Mori said. Rather than disappointment, a deep happiness welled from inside him. His theory turned out to be true. “I knew it! Spirits actually can talk with the tree!” he thought. Not one to turn down such an opportunity, he responded, “Of course. I always wanted to watch a spirit communicate with the elder tree.”

As they spoke, the clouds hovering above them began to unleash a more threatening hail of water. They clenched their dark fingers into a powerful fish of fury and the rain went from a light touch to feeling as though icicles were pounding their skin. It was an unusually cold temperature for a summer storm. A worried expression overtook Ori’s face as he looked to the sky, now completely covered in clouds without a speck of blue in sight. The giant, dark fingers dipped deep into the recesses of his mind and stirred up a single phrase in his brain: Eternal Vessel. What did Gor mean by that? That giant guardian of the lake spoke in such puzzles, and he couldn’t make heads or tails of half of the terminology he used. While he was in the middle of trying to compare the message to everything he had ever heard, a hard, cold drop hit him right square in the forehead, quickly awaking him from his reverie. “We have to hurry,” he said, the words escaping his little mouth before he even thought about them. He took the moki by the paw and sped up his pace from a walk to somewhat of a panicked speedwalking. Around them, the treetops began to tell an anxious story as they swung to-and-fro in the building wind.

That’s when things took a turn for the worst.

Bang! A lightning bolt struck one of the trees with a loud crack echoing in every which way. The now ignited branch became a dangerous hazard, glowing bright and dangerous as it fell into their path. The terrible flame blazed with a powerful light, shooting waves of natural fear through the poor bodies of both of the duo. The little spirit also felt dread and sorrow, feeling a connection to the gruesome end of the beautiful living being. A third feeling came in a wave as he noticed one of the flaming branches above fall and threaten to bury the moki underneath. “Watch out!” he shouted, followed by a reactive pull on his friend’s paw to move him out of the way. Mori merely responded, “Thank you.” Ori continued, “The weather’s getting worse. Let’s just hope that father is okay.” He was shivering throughout his whole body, even more so than the moki standing beside him. “Ori, do you have some terrible experience with weather like this?” Mori questioned, confused that the spirit be showing so much fear when he wasn’t the one who was almost crushed. However, the spirit shook his head, answering “Not now, we don’t have time. We have to get to father.” Just as soon as he finished his sentence, they were forced to dodge another direction to avoid more falling branches and fire. A few frantic moments later, and they’d inevitably lost their orientation completely. Giant trees surrounded them on all sides, and the unrelenting rain only made focusing harder.

“Ori, do you know where we are?”

He felt a rising panic overtake him, comparable to the disturbing nightmare fuel he’d been through all last night, but it was a little different. He felt lost, disoriented, and most importantly like he’d never find his father again, the feeling increasing with every heartbeat. “No… Not anymore…” he muttered. “D-don’t tell me that we’re lost”—“We’re lost,” Ori stated, his voice breaking from both fear and the constant blows of the merciless raindrops. It was as if the sea itself was falling from the heavy clouds above them. That terrible maelstrom must have come from some god-like creature, it was the only explanation.

A sudden flash in the distance distracted him. “Wait!” Ori said. “What’s that light over there?”

…

“Hey you!” Ori shouted, “Did you get lost?” His kind voice left his mouth, always ready to comfort any sad person. The light continued to get stronger, until eventually, he saw its source. In front of him stood another spirit, thought it was like one he had never seen before. “Would you like to come with us? We search for father.” The other spirit, however, had no reaction to his words. At all. As if Ori hadn’t said anything. “You are scared,” he stated kindly. “Just like us. You look like you could use a hug.” The silent spirit began to carefully approach both, a soulless expression anchored on his glowing face. “The weather scares us all, little one,” added Mori. “Is something wrong, my brother?” Ori asked, his concerns evident on his face. “Yes, come closer.” Although the other spirit was a little taller than he was, he felt that they were definitely more scared than either he or Mori. Slowly spreading his arms for a hug, he stood still and ignored the pattering rain on his skin for a moment. The silent one also began to spread their arms as they approached the kind, smaller spirit. He answered Ori’s offer…

With a forceful push to the ground.

“Hey, what are you doing?” the smaller spirit yelled, appalled by the act. His voice rose up until a powerful punch struck him dead in the face and made him shout briefly, only drawing another strike. “What’s wrong, brother? What did I do to you?!” Ori had enough pain for several lifetimes now, and so he pushed the arms aside with a forceful shocking movement. They flung to the side, and he followed up with a strong kick with his hoof. While the taller spirit stumbled back, winded, Ori asked, “Whatever is the reason to hurt me? What terrible torment did you have to endure that would convince you to do such things?” The moki, for his part, was as appalled as his comrade. “Why, just why, did you attack him? We’re trying to help!” Whatever the reason, the other spirit hadn’t even winced from the impact, completely ignoring the fact that Ori had just hit them right in the stomach. Not a single tone of any kind escaped their mouth, not a single sign of pain or suffering showed across their body. Ori was not only visibly confused but also worried that they would try and attack him again. Although he hated the act of fighting one of his own siblings like nothing else, he was more than capable of defending himself when it came to it.

Meanwhile, the moki tried to sneak behind the attacker in order to surprise them with a powerful grab attack. He succeeded! With a flash of black limbs, he grabbed them underneath the arms and pulled them back into a position that made it impossible for them to use their hooves and free themselves. “Thank you, Mori,” breathed Ori, panting slightly. The being started to struggle, but it was to no avail. The moki’s grip was too strong. “Please, tell us. Whatever someone did to you, we are **not** your enemies! Please tell us what happened.” The spirit, however, didn’t say anything. They didn’t even change their expression. It was only now that Ori realized that they didn’t just not show any kind of fear, but they didn’t show any kind of emotion at all. No pain, no worry, just an emotionless stare directly into his eyes. It was if they didn’t have any feelings. Ori’s expression, though, changed drastically to a scared and worried one. “You… you look as though you’ve lost your soul…,” he said with a shivering voice. He couldn’t help himself any longer. Grabbing the other spirit by the shoulders, he said, more urgently this time, “Please, tell us what happened!”

Silence.

Suddenly, a terribly hard hoof hit him in the face with a well-performed hook, and he stumbled back, now at the verge of crying. In the same moment, while Mori was distracted by the rapid pace of events, the spirit’s elbow rammed into his flanks, causing the moki to scream in pain briefly. He fell to the ground and the spirit approached Ori, who had only been pushed farther into the realm of breaking emotionally. Their fearless eyes looked into his sea of tears, which was only growing more and more. Light was looking into darkness. The moment took only a fraction of a second, but it felt like minutes to Ori. Then, the being leapt at him and buried him underneath their weight; their paws pushing against his neck in an attempt to strangle him. It felt like there was a terrible coughing attack coming, but his respiratory tract was blocked effectively. He tried to move their arms away, but they were far too strong. He tried to kick them again, but they were too heavy and his legs were buried underneath. Only one option remained.

He didn’t know what thought he had to do it, or if it were just self-preservation instincts kicking in at this point, but he finally summed his blade to his right paw and swung it forcefully in an uncontrollable path right at his “enemy.” A clean cut drew itself right through the freaked-out being and caused it to stumble backwards. Ori could only watch in horror as he watched the results of his action, until the spirit burst into thousands of wispy light crystals that dissolved into the air.

“Wha… what have I done?” the little spirit wailed dejectedly, an unknown force still pinning him to the ground. He was absolutely aghast at the consequences of his action, and was still considering how to act on it when a paw reached over him. The moki had quite the opposite opinion on Ori’s act. After recovering himself, he carefully walked up to his companion to lend him his paw. “You disposed of a dangerous being that was about to kill us both, that’s what you have done. Now come on, get up.” Ori, however, protested feverishly. “No, he was my brother! I—” “No, he wasn’t. I’ll tell you something, Ori. That spirit was not organic like you.” Confused, the little spirit tilted his head to the side, lost in questions. “What… do you mean by that?” he asked. “He didn’t bleed naturally like you did back when you got hit by the guardian in the temple. He just dissolved in the air, after you only hit him once,” said Mori, resolute in his delivery. “But—” Ori tried to protest again, but he was cut off. “No buts. I know it’s hard to understand, but this spirit wasn’t like you. And it wasn’t comparable to anyone of your kind. Now get up.” Ori grabbed the moki’s paw and let him lift his body up to his hooves. “Now, let’s go find your father.”

There was a swirling multitude of sensations and feelings to pick through that the little spirit had to endure right now, but one in particular stood out. That strange tingling feeling in his gut was back. Ori had felt it so often over the past day that he eventually could tell what it meant.

It meant danger.


	15. The Encounter

Above roared a screaming sky letting loose a relentless fire of destruction and torrent of rain, accompanied by a strong wind ripping trees from their roots and flinging them about. Blasts of lightning killed the peaceful wooden beings, twisting off their branches only for them to fall and crush everything beneath them. No sane mind would dare risk even a second out in the horrible spectacle of the storm. However, not all minds were necessarily given a choice when they were forced out there, and even less of one when they were trapped there.

A rumble shook Ori’s gut, not from hunger, but from an indescribable dread of something he was not yet aware of. Ori desperately hoped that he wouldn’t find out exactly what that thing to be dreading was, and that yet would be forever an if. That the feeling he felt was a lie, not that it ever had been before. “Instead,” he internally rationalized, “perhaps the feeling was instead a reaction to the emotionally-shattering death of…my sibling.” The crime played before his eyes once more, like it had been nonstop ever since leaving the scene. “No!” he chastised himself, realizing an error in his thoughts. “That _thing_ wasn’t my sibling. It was a dangerous monster that had to be stopped. It merely bore a great resemblance to one of our kind.” Unfortunately, the sinking feeling in his gut led him to believe that whatever it was, it wasn’t the last of its sort. And just as that thought ended, the telltale cracking of dead wood and the hissing of fiery snakes, along with a loud and overly aggressive rustle in the bushes just off his intended path seemed to confirm it.

Ever protective for his moki friend, Ori summoned his shiny blade and pointed its peak towards the dark green fibers. Waiting.

Seeing the game was up, it didn’t take long for the hunters to tip their paw. Hundreds of little glowing things of varying heights, builds, weights, and bodies walked forward. One thing they all shared, however, was that same emotionless expression from before. It wasn’t just from the bushes ahead of them that they came, either; that would have been too lenient. No, the wall of shiny fur and flesh surrounded the duo from both sides as it slowly enclosed around them. An instinctive drive pushed the two back-to-back as they tried to maintain any form of defensive formation while Mori readied himself with a particularly hardy stalk he had found lying on the forest floor.

Then, just as the wall was getting closer and closer to fighting distance, it stopped.

Above them, trees prevented the heavy raindrops from hitting the ground, so the only noise was the fine droplets falling from their drenched and dripping fur. The aura of light around Ori and the false spirits grew brighter until not even the sun could have illuminated their surroundings any better. Seconds passed in near silence, with only the wind to break it when it found its way around the barrier. The horde had them; the horde had captured them. Their prey was sitting in their trap.

Nothing seemed to be happening, and the inaction was grating. Clenching his sword ever tighter with each passing second, Ori moved closer to his friend. While he may be caught, it was doubtful that the false spirits wanted anything to do with a lowly moki. It was the least he could do to help him escape. Leaning in to discuss his plan, Ori whispered, “Mori… get out of here!” He dissolved his weapon for easy access later to create a ladder with his paws. Mori’s eyes widened as he started to protest, “Ori, I couldn’t…” But his friend wasn’t having any of it. He was more than certain that this was the only way to keep the moki safe. “Trust me.”

He didn’t have the time to argue, and so Mori did as the spirit suggested. He placed one paw onto his friend’s supporting paws, fearing it may be the last time he ever did. Ori closed his eyes and focused, building all the strength he could in his paws. He waited a couple of seconds until he was sure he was ready, and threw.

With a loud cry, the small moki became airborne, flung far higher than any natural being of Ori’s size could have done. Before the moki was able to realize exactly what was happening, he landed on all fours in the soft bushes almost on the edge of the sight range the storm permitted. He glanced back towards his friend, but knowing there was nothing he could do, he put his trust in Ori’s abilities and used the opportunity to run away.

And with that, Ori was alone. Again.

“Don’t you dare follow him!” he shouted at the unknown creatures. He re-summoned his blade, free to swing it without fear of accidentally hurting his friend. The spirits did nothing. Ori wasn’t about to let them have the first move, and with a tremendous amount of determination he swirled his sharp blade in a ring and disposed of a ring of spirits surrounding him. As their bodies shattered and dissipated away, he jumped into the air and landed another strike into two spirits standing closer together than the rest. They separated from each other for only a moment, but it was all Ori needed to run through the gap and turn to his enemies, no longer surrounded. Now he controlled where the fight would happen, and used the short period of shock among them to scan for weapons. To his shock, not a single one of them was armed with so much as a rock, while he carried his battle-proven sword to defend himself. With nothing he needed to defend against, the situation called for a spear, and so that’s exactly what he made. Pointing the peak at his opponents, he shouted his demands. “Don’t. Come. Closer.” He felt as though he finally had some level of control over the whole situation, the first bit of control he felt in well over a day. “Who are you? Why are you attacking me?” The spirits gave no answer at first, and he was about to put this all behind him when he heard a whisper coming from somewhere deep in the crowd. It was quite similar to the guardian’s before, but at the same time entirely different. It had an entirely different message to say.

Their chatter built further, and it all meshed into an unintelligible mash of words of which Ori couldn’t make out even a single word, much less the message. Despite the lack of any words, however, the speech did form some kind of choir-like rhythm. A dark choir. Their voices fell into key together, singing in deep tones and giving Ori a hair-raising anxiety incomparable to anything he had ever felt before.

Then, as the song entered a new verse, the false spirits did something so completely unexpected Ori couldn’t help but stand dumbfounded as he watched. They copied the same movement he had used to fling Mori to safety, and now several of them were flying directly towards him. It was all the little spirit could do to let loose a frightened scream at the sudden change of events before the crowd managed to bury him underneath, their many paws pulling him in all directions while the biggest reached around his neck. He quickly freed himself with a swift few pokes and swings of his weapon and got up to immediately begin running, not stopping to catch his breath. Climbing up a nearby tree, he used the advantage to jump off with his hissing weapon and crush everything beneath his hooves. More of the false spirits dissolved in the air like clouds vanishing after a thunderstorm like the one Ori was too busy fighting to notice anymore.

An eardrum-shattering boom of a lightning bolt hit a nearby tree and violently ripped one of its many massive branches off, letting it fall into the battlefield and add a new blazing obstacle to the mix. It crashed into the ground, eliminating a large crowd of Ori’s enemies that couldn’t get out of the way in time. Only a few were left, but they didn’t seem even capable of considering retreat. The little spirit bravely approached them, closed his eyes, and swung the tip of his spear through the air. They were all gone now, finally.

“Mori!” he called out into the unknown, dissolving his weapon back into a shimmer of sparkling dust. No answer came back from the forest. “Mori! Where are you?” he called again, hoping against hope that he may see his friend. Not even a muffled echo returned to clue him in on the direction his friend had fled, and he couldn’t even remember the direction he had gone. He was alone. Again.

…

His hooves scuffed over the cold grass, his earlier determination almost completely gone. He couldn’t even remember his original goal, blown away like the rest of his life in the strong winds around him. The raindrops pattered the top of his head while his ears drooped like a dying flower, too heavy from the water to keep up for long. Weakly, he continued on his seemingly never-ending path, repeating “He is going to be okay” over and over to himself. It was all he could do to keep even a semblance of hope alive, while his legs shook beneath him like rubber. Still, he kept his relentless pace forward.

Ahead of him lie a wide meadow no longer covered by the shelter of the trees. The rain pattered even harder on his sensitive skin like cold icicles digging through his flesh.

Not even close to his destination, his father looked farther away than it had when he started. The reality that he was lost in the giant forest, alone and hungry, finally registered. He fell to his knees on the verge of crying and giving up. “Where are you?” he sobbed quietly. The long grass of the meadow blocked his vision, and it was though he was encased in the green fiber. Lonely and caught in his own thoughts comparable to the thunderstorm above him, he let his emotions loose into the wet ground beneath him and lost track of time.

After reaching an emotional catharsis, he finally had both a calm enough mind and body to assess his situation properly. The little spirit got up again to peer over the whole meadow of high grass. His body twitched strongly as his hooves stood rooted to the ground as his vision transfixed on one particular figure far on the horizon.

Another spirit guardian.

Only one person came to his mind. “Kiri?” his little mouth asked quietly. It should have been impossible for the far off spirit to hear him. Of course, when their ears moved upward and zeroed in on his direction, an ice-cold shudder of fright shot down Ori’s back.

This wasn’t Kiri.

The spirit was different from every other being he had yet encountered. While he could feel Kiri’s aura of peace and calmness from far away, whoever this person was emitted something else, something much darker. Although the far-away spirit didn’t show any outward signs of aggression, Ori could already tell that this spirit was fighting the urge to attack him. Instead of they typical two, four long, very sharp ears rose from the spirit’s head like deadly blades. The tail, maybe two times longer than Ori’s, was hardly distinguishable from a weapon as it’s peak formed into a spear. No hooves supported them, instead replaced by two additional paws that supported them on the grassy ground they were standing on. A wolf on two legs.

Ori’s concerns built further and further, and when they reached their climax while the thunderstorm increased in its intensity, the frightening thing began to talk directly to his mind from across the field, its mental breath carrying with it a calm voice and barely-restrained aggression.

“Nobody could imagine the inequity that strained the soul of this innocent child.”

Ori knew the spirit was talking about him, since there was nobody else around for him to be talking about. His mind threw new questions on the nature of what exactly the wolf-spirit knew. What kind of inequity was he talking about? Was he talking about the night before, with the cave monsters eager to eat him? It seemed silly to tie the experience to his soul in particular, terrible as though it was. Was it something else? And what would that something be? The lightning and thunder eased for only a moment as the wind calmed and the rain weakened. It was as though they too were listening to the mysterious spirit’s message.

“I’m here and willing to free you from this malice. To release you from suffering in the eternal darkness and let you take in the nourishing peace you deserve. Yet… I’ll have to undertake a deed to make that happen. An act I’m sure I will regret even after an uncountable number of winters. Something… horrible.”

It sounded as though the spirit choked on the last word as he spoke it. Ori’s breath grew heavier with the being’s speech as he internally debated on whether to run now or finish listening.

“You will try and fight it, I am sure. I fully accept your resistance, if you do so. However, you must understand that it is the only way to save the world from the claws of darkness.”

His tone quieted and sorrow washed over his voice.

“Tell me little one… what have you already done for this land? What unimaginable torments and dismal experiences did you have to suffer through? Two forests you have saved. For Niwen, you gave your own life and ability to touch your family… you sister. Such devotion to rescue your loved ones and a land that you didn’t even call home.

His voice returned to the colder tone of before.

“A soul filled with such onerous memories, filled to the brim with the trauma of sacrifice and loss couldn’t bear the force of the eternal vessel anymore. I will give you freedom. I will give you comfort. I will give you warmth.”

With a loud inhale to bear the words he was about to say, his voice reached the climax of darkness as his aggression broke its feeble dam.

“In heaven.”

Not even moments after finishing his speech did he quickly turn to Ori, two sharp, shiny blades emerging from his upper paws and crackling with powerful bursts of energy.

And suddenly, he was there. A loud gasp came from Ori’s mouth as the fierce ends of the blades collided with the wet floor he once stood upon before dodging the deadly swing.

Quickly getting up, there was nothing left for him to do other than try to prevent that mysterious spirit from cutting him into oh so many pieces. Every strike that fell upon his weapon felt like a giant sonic wave that blasted his body backwards as the air filled with the sound of clashing metal and the tones of dying sparkles of light. “It will all be over soon,” the spirit breathed as he took a break from his attacks and backed away. The moment of brief peace didn’t last longer than a few seconds though, as he drew forward again with an elegant pirouette that made his next strike even more powerful. The tremendous force exerted by his blows almost reminded Ori of the giant spider back in the cave. Quite possibly a ton of force from the massive sword slashes banged and collided with his own weapon, and flung his arms to the side. He was forced onto the defensive, and he knew he wouldn’t take the torture much longer before making what would be his last mistake.

_“An enemy, aggressive and relentless in his strikes, will eventually become a victim of his own fury. They tend to neglect their defense. Use the opportunity to strike!”_ Kiri’s previous advice echoed through his mind. He waited for the perfect chance to strike back, hoping that it would come before he failed.

And there he saw it. His opponent became a victim of their own power as Ori’s weapon was flung back with the force of the incoming attack just to make a quick circle in the air and push his enemy’s sword down. Their sights crossed much like their blades.

A sparkle of determination made its home in the child’s eyes. He looked up to the person that stood head and shoulders above him. Viewed from up close, the spirit looked even more foreboding than from afar. Even with the frightening appearance, though, Ori showed no fear. Not anymore.

Suddenly an invisible force forced him to the ground, and there was nothing he could do about. He only saw the legs of his opponent straddling him. Ori’s eyes blinked in fright and he quickly rolled to the side to let the incoming blade sting deeply into the dirt. It almost impaled his body on its second attempt, but he let his blade drive through his opponents legs with a brief warrior’s cry that caused his opponent to scream in pain and loose his balance. To prevent another strike on his person, he kicked Ori’s body through the air. The child quickly rolled up and brought himself into his deep, stable stance drilled into him through hours of practice. Many inches of ever larger raindrops separated the two from each other as each looked deep into the eyes of of their enemy. They slowly circled around an invisible point between them, Ori focusing all of his attention on the slighted twitches of his enemy in an attempt to gauge what his next action was going to be. The circle became smaller as they drew closer to each other. A small failure in his enemy’s composure allowed the child to foresee his enemy’s attack and used the foresight to parry the attack and deliver a forceful kick to the head. A fierce combo of slashes followed from all directions. First came several from the side, before a pirouette on the other and a slash from above that was barely blocked, until eventually the unknown spirit’s guard broke like a shattered pane of ice. Ori’s next move was to zoom towards his enemy’s chest with the peak of his weapon first. Victory was so close, but alas, air was the only one who screamed as his attack hit nothing. Ori hadn’t even realized what happened before his opponent kicked him heavily from the side across his shoulder. Another swing with one of his many blades mowed the high grass beneath Ori, forcing him to jump. While the child was in the air, another kick sent him sailing across the field.

Landing with a grunt, Ori rolled in the mud caused by the heavy rains a few times before getting up again, only to see the mysterious spirit creating two spears, one already in the air on a path directly blocked by his body. Fast reactions saved him as the first hissed by his head so closely Ori could have shaved with it, and the second whizzing past his flanks at a similar distance. Several more spears flew past him into nowhere, disappearing behind him before even touching the ground. He didn’t have time to ponder on how a spirit could possibly do anything at the level his opponent was at, and as such he struck the last spear down with his weapon and sprinted as fast as he could towards his opponent.

All it took was a quick, subtle movement with a leg and Ori was face down and blinded by mud again. Thinking fast, he rolled as far away as he could to dodge an attack from behind his back. Using this opportunity, the child tried to land a hit anywhere he could, but the strike was parried and the spirit jumped backwards. “Let’s end this quickly,” he stated from his cold mouth as his jump carried him high into the dark sky. The air howled as time stood still. Ori felt a terribly painful strike on his blade knock it from his paws. Before he could consider his next action, there was silence, and an incredible, unbearable ache in his chest. His eyes filled with an ocean of tears as they stared horrified at his opponent’s face. Then a cold darkness overcame him, and a blackness, far darker than any color he saw before swept through his vision.

He lost.

_“Never would I have thought it would come so far...”_

Carefully bringing Ori’s body to the ground and pulling the blade out of his chest, a tear ran down the spirit’s cheek as his face remained emotionless.

_“When a spirit fights one of their own kind”_

“Well fought… Ignited one,” he spoke. “There is so much power within you… I can save this land, I always keep my word.” His paws moved away from Ori’s cold body.

_“A threat they now are”_

“We will see each other again, ignited one. Very soon.” With his monologue over, the mysterious spirit turned away from the dead child. A bright flash of light filled his body, growing brighter until eventually vanishing into the darkness of the thunderstorm.

_“Niwen needs us more than ever before.”_


End file.
